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Civil service pay

What are civil servants paid?

Median earnings by government department (Updated: 27 Jan 2021) [2]

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Average salaries vary considerably across Whitehall departments, with the highest average salary (DfID, £51,500 – prior to the department’s merger with the FCO) beingnearly £27,000 more than the lowest (HMRC, £24,670). This largely reflects the grade balance [5] in different departments.

There has been a decrease in median earnings at the Cabinet Office in recent years. This is partially due to the transferring of responsibility for two units – the Fast Stream [6]

and Civil Service Resourcing – over to CO from HMRC. Other departments saw median pay rise between 2019 and 2020: for example, the average salary at the Treasury rosefrom £38,000 to £51,000, driven by higher salaries at more senior grades and higher concentrations of staff at those levels.

The chart and text below are based on data from 2018, as relevant data for 2019 has not yet been made available by the Cabinet Office.

Number of civil servants at different salary level (Updated: 27 Jan 2021) [8]

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Across the whole civil service, the majority of staff (55%, or almost 250,000 civil servants) are paid below £30,000 – with nearly a one in 10 civil servants (9%) paid under1

£20,000. Salaries over £40,00 are less common: just under 90,000 civil servants earn over £40,000 a year – less than half the number of those who earn between £20,000and £30,000.

This is partly due to the size of the big delivery departments, where average pay is lower, which shapes the pay profile of the whole civil service. At DWP, for example, themedian pay is £26,890, and at the Home Office it is £25,120. Because these departments focus on delivering services, they have large numbers of staff, a high proportion ofwhom are at more junior grades. These departments are also more likely to employ people outside of London, where salaries are lower, than more policy-focuseddepartments like the Treasury.

Civil servants earning over £70,000 a year make up less than 3% of the total workforce.

Who sets civil service pay? [11]

The pay of civil servants is ultimately the responsibility of HM Treasury, which annually issues guidance on pay[1] [12], including to government departments. Within thisframework, departments are able to set their own pay policy. Bonuses[2] [12] (known as non-consolidated performance payments) are awarded annually to staff based on theirperformance at an individual, team or organisational level.

Civil servants are paid similar amounts to people working in other areas of the public sector. At the end of March 2020, median pay across the whole civil service was£28,180. For senior civil servants, it was £81,440, and for administrative officers, £20,500.

In 2019/20, police officers[3] [12] in England and Wales were paid between £20,880 (junior constables) and £89,511 (senior chief superintendents), depending on when theywere appointed to their roles. Classroom teachers (excluding those in leadership roles)[4] [12] were paid between £24,373 and £54,144, depending on seniority and location.

In July 2018, a 1% cap on public sector pay – that had been in place for six years – was removed. By 2020/21, civil servants were eligible for pay rises of between 1.5% and2.5%, with departments left to determine how much to increase pay within that range.

However, in the 2020 spending review [13], the chancellor announced another pay freeze for civil servants and public sector workers (excluding those in the NHS or earningunder £24,000) in 2021/22.

How does pay vary by civil service grade? [14]

Median pay by department and grade (Updated: 27 Jan 2021) [16]

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Pay at each civil service grade [19] varies between departments.

The biggest range of median salaries at any grade occurs among the senior civil service (SCS), where average pay varies between £73,860 at DfE and £81,700 at MoJ.Median pay for grade 6/7 civil servants varies by over £6,000, from £52,230 at DIT to £58,400 at the FCO (this data is from before the merger of the FCO and DfID inSeptember 2020).HMRC has the lowest-paid executive officers (£24,820), while DfT has the highest-paid (£29,640)

The chart and text below relate to 2019, due to data availability.

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Civil service pay ranges by grade (Updated: 17 Jul 2020) [21]

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Pay also varies within grades, and these differences grow larger with seniority. In 2019:3

At the most junior grade (AA, or administrative assistant), the difference between the minimum and maximum pay bands is around £6,000 – from £15,500 at MoJ to£21,500 at HMRC.At Grade 6 roles (those immediately below the Senior Civil Service, or SCS) these differences reach around £40,000 – some Grade 6 staff at MoJ are paid 1.75 times asmuch as their counterparts at Defra.The largest differences occur at the SCS level, where the minimum pay band is £50,000 (at MHCLG), compared to a maximum pay band of almost £265,000 (at DIT).

Some of these differences may reflect differences in skills, seniority or location. For example, Grade 6 staff at DWP include medical officers working in London, while Grade 6staff at Defra can be policy officers based outside the capital. It may also explain why MoJ pays both the minimum salary for the senior executive officer (SEO) pay band – tosome of its IT managers – as well as the maximum salary within the band – for deputy prison governors.

Variations may also reflect the degree to which departments rely on staff with specialist skills, notably in senior grades including the SCS, and how they recruit them. Forexample, the chief trade negotiation advisor is employed at DIT, the CO employs the government chief commercial officer, while the chief medical officer is based at DHSC –the top three departments with the highest range of SCS pay. Similarly, some professions such as property or commercial tend to have a higher proportion of external recruits(those coming from the private sector) who are offered higher salaries to attract experienced private-sector professionals.

Who are the highest-paid civil servants? [24]

Number of high pay salaries by core department and other organisations (Updated: 27 Jan 2021) [26]

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Departments may pay higher salaries to some civil servants[5] [12] and other officials in order to recruit people with specialist skills – for example, in commercial activities. TheCabinet Office publishes annual data on these high earners – those on over £150,000 a year (roughly the salary of the Prime Minister).

As of September 2020 – the most recent period for which we have data – 552 senior civil servants and officials in departments, agencies, non-departmental public bodieswere classed as high earners. These staff make up only a small part of the whole civil service, however, with most civil servants and officials earning considerably below£150,000.

DfT had 165 high earners. Almost all (154) were employed in roles categorised by the Cabinet Office as “commercial enterprise in the public sector”. That includes 73individuals working for Network Rail, and 46 at HS2 Ltd.DHSC (124) and CO (60) had the second and third highest number of high earners – and both departments saw a small increase in their number of high earners in theyear to September 2020, likely reflecting the key role they have played in dealing with coronavirus. In DHSC, most of these were split across agencies and non-departmental public bodies such as NHS England (49), Public Health England (30) and Health Education England (11). High earners at CO occupy a number of roles thatrequire specialist skills and experience: from parliamentary counsel to commercial and infrastructure specialists.

How satisfied are civil servants with their pay? [29]

The chart and text below relates to data for 2019, the latest period for which we have data.

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Satisfaction with pay and benefits by government department (Updated: 17 Jul 2020) [31]

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The annual Civil Service People Survey[6] [12] asks whether civil servants are satisfied with the pay and benefits they receive. In 2018, the average satisfaction across all civilservice organisations was 31% – up three percentage points on 2019.

But satisfaction with pay doesn't necessarily correlate to pay levels. The low satisfaction for DIT shows that pay and benefits aren’t the only explanation of staff morale.

1. Cabinet Office, Civil Service pay remit guidance 2019 to 2020, 13 June 2019, www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pay-remit-guidance-2019-to-2020 [34]

2. Cabinet Office, Glossary of terms in Civil service pay remit guidance 2019 to 2020, 13 June 2019, www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pay-remit-guidance-2019-to-2020/civil-service-pay-remit-guidance-2019-to-2020#glossary-of-terms [35]

3. Home Office, Home Office evidence to the Police Remuneration Review Body 2020/21 payround, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/868761/HO_evidence_to_the_Police_Remuneration_Review_Body_2020-21.pdf [36]

4. Schools Teachers' Review Body, School Teachers’ Review Body, 29th report, July2019, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819428/School_Teachers__Review_Body_29th_report_2019.pdf[37]

5. Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office senior officials 'high earners' salaries, 2 August 2011, www.gov.uk/government/publications/senior-officials-high-earners-salaries [38]

6. Cabinet Office, Civil Service People Survey: 2017 results, 16 November 2017, www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2017-results--2 [39]

Further information

Abbreviations for government departments [40]

Update date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021

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[38] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/senior-officials-high-earners-salaries[39] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2017-results--2[40] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2018/abbreviations

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