British civil service grows by 9,000 jobs
The number of civil servants in the UK has increased by almost 9,000, and more women are in top management posts, new British government figures showed today.
Representation of women, staff from ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled people have all increased, the research showed.
Civil service staff numbers rose by 8,920 to 523,580 in Britain in the six months to April, including an increase of over 2,000 in the department for work and pensions, 1,100 in the prison service, almost 1,000 in the home office and 3,500 in the inland revenue.
The figures were published 24 hours before the result of a strike ballot among members of the biggest civil service union in a dispute over planned job cuts.
The cabinet fffice said one in four top management jobs were now held by women, up from 12% in 1998.
More than 27% of Britain's senior civil servants are women, compared with fewer than one in five six years ago.
The number of senior civil servants from ethnic minority backgrounds has doubled to 3.3% since 1998 while the number of disabled people in senior posts has risen from 1.5% to 2.3%.
Cabinet office minister Ruth Kelly said: “The government is committed to achieving a civil service that reflects the population we serve, including at senior levels, and recognises the need for further progress and sustained effort to accomplish this aspiration.
“I am pleased that the civil service continues to make progress in addressing the under-representation of women and minority ethnic staff at senior levels and hope we can build on the increase in disabled staff.”
Sir Andrew Turnbull, head of the British civil service, said: “Increasing diversity is a key element in expanding our skills and building our leadership capacity.
“I am pleased the senior civil service continues to become more visibly diverse, which builds on our capacity to engage effectively with communities and so develop policies and deliver services in ways which benefit everyone in society.”
Shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin said: “This is a genuinely astonishing example of a government providing us with talk instead of action.
“Gordon Brown says that he is trying to cut back on the huge explosion of bureaucracy for which he has been responsible – and what happens? Answer: He expands the bureaucracy even further.
“If the government is re-elected for a third term, the tax rises that people will be paying will go on feeding this fat government. It is time for genuine action to thin down government so that we can have lower taxes and better value for money.”
The Public and Commercial Services Union will announce the result tomorrow of a ballot for a one-day strike by its 265,000 members in protest at plans to cut jobs in the civil service.
The stoppage, planned for November 5, will be the biggest in the service for more than a decade if it goes ahead.
