Some 83% of exits from the senior civil service were “regrettable losses” in 2023-24, meaning the departing officials were rated highly in talent grid markings, according to the Senior Salaries Review Body.
This has jumped from 72% “regrettable losses” in 2022-23 and 59% in 2021-22, while it was 67% in 2020-21.
The increase in the proportion of senior officials leaving that are highly rated comes amid a drop in churn, the SSRB said. There were 765 leavers in 2023-24, down 160 on the previous year, and the turnover rate was 11.6%, which is down from 14.3% in 2022-23 and is a return to pre-pandemic levels.
The SCS resignation rate, meanwhile, dropped to 4.3% in 2023-24, after reaching a record high of 5.9% in 2022-23.
These figures are from the SSRB’s 2023-24 annual report, which was published on 22 May and recommended a pay increase of 3.25% for senior civil servants, the same as the Cabinet Office's broad-brush proposals for delegated-grade civil servants. The SSRB report also provides advice on longer-term pay reform issues.
The report noted an increase in median tenure in the SCS, with the average stay in a role up from 2.1 years in 2022-23 to 2.3 years in 2023-24, and says this suggests a policy introduced in 2022 which set an expectation of a default minimum duration period for all SCS1 and 2 posts “may be having some impact”.
However, it warns that “high levels of churn remain a feature” of the SCS, and that “excessive churn means that too many posts are occupied by individuals still building their expertise and key networks”.
“It also means that the leadership of some departments and agencies lacks stability – and frequent turnover makes it difficult to hold leaders accountable,” the report adds. “This has a negative impact on the effectiveness and productivity of the SCS”.
The report says the SSRB has been calling for a simple pay progression framework since 2018 and says the failure to address this is a key contributing factor to excessive churn.
It recommends that the government undertake a "fundamental review and ‘reset’ of SCS pay and reward frameworks...with urgency". It says this review "should support the development and implementation at pace of long-term solutions" to the issues and anomalies that have been highlighted over many years by the SSRB, including but not limited to:
- A coherent SCS Strategy which addresses the fundamental questions relating to the SCS’ purpose, size and composition
- A clear set of reward principles for the SCS
- A pay structure that can recruit and retain in-demand specialists
- A simple pay progression system for those delivering in role and demonstrating expertise
- Addressing salary band overlaps between the delegated grades and the SCS, and within the SCS
- Reducing reliance upon anomalies pots and non-consolidated payments
- Benchmarking SCS pay and reward relative to comparable leadership roles and responsibilities across the public and private sectors
The report also calls the apparent target date of 2030 for developing a civil service reward strategy “not nearly ambitious enough”.
And it questions whether quick enough progress will be achieved on pay reform with the current division of roles and responsibilities for overseeing the SCS between the Cabinet Office and departments.
“Accountability needs to be accompanied by the power to implement,” the report says. “We therefore also ask the government to ensure that the Cabinet Office is afforded the necessary levers to enable delivery of the changes required at pace.”
Additionally, the report comments on specific issues with permanent-secretary pay.
It says the SCS 4 maximum (£200,000) has not been increased since 2010 and is currently lower than the SCS 3 maximum (£208,100). And it says some 16% of SCS 4-level officials are already paid above the maximum, while approximately 41% are set to reach the maximum within the next three years.
“We understand that this may have a marked impact on the ability to attract and retain high-quality candidates for these demanding roles,” the report says. “In discussion groups, we heard that the SCS is struggling to compete at the permanent secretary level against the reward packages offered across the public sector (such as in local government, the NHS and universities) – let alone against the private sector.
“Despite these barriers, we heard from permanent secretaries that they recognise they are not the only group affected by challenges of this nature, and that any improvement in reward should be in a context of updated accountability and performance management expectations.”
Parliamentary secretary to the Cabinet Office Georgia Gould said the recommendations made in relation to the permanent secretary group will be considered by the Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee.