A big part of this questioning flows from a widespread lack of understanding of the role of the Civil Service and the value it adds. People take their understanding from what they read in the media and see on TV. Obviously, the reality is a bit more complicated than that. The GOV.UK website explains, “Civil servants are part of your local community and all around the UK, providing essential services that help, improve and save lives.” The vast majority of civil servants are engaged at a local level, delivering vital public services that every one of us depends on. But, despite this, the work of civil servants is too often unknown and under-valued.
I started my previous career in the Civil Service working in county courts in London, helping small businesses to settle their disputes, enabling children to be fostered and adopted, protecting vulnerable individuals from violent partners, and a myriad of other crucial functions.
Even after I moved to the more rarefied world of Whitehall, I still felt that the roles with which I was involved – from creating the Community Legal Service, to developing a judiciary more reflective of society, to supporting community-based approaches to tackle violent extremism – were ones that, frankly, were a privilege to be a part of and where I could clearly see the positive contribution to society that has always motivated me.
And my example is pretty commonplace. In my experience, the vast majority of civil servants are motivated by a powerful commitment to public service, wanting to deliver the best possible results for their communities and society as a whole.
Unfortunately, if understandably, the Civil Service doesn’t spend much time explaining much of this to the public. And it is just too easy for others to deflect criticism to those unable to defend themselves publicly. But it is very clear that effective and efficient public servants are at the heart of strong, vibrant and economically strong communities.
Having worked in public, private and charitable sector roles, I can testify that the accountability of the Civil Service to deliver is of an order way beyond that in most other sectors. Accountability internally to managers, accountability to Ministers, accountability to Parliament, accountability to watchdogs, accountability to stakeholders, accountability to taxpayers – and accountability to the media, who relish the opportunity to have a pop at public service leaders they judge to have slipped up.
How often are we told that our civil servants need to be less risk-averse and more entrepreneurial? Make sure officials learn from failures, sure; but, please don’t squash any bold, innovative, or unusual attempts to try something different. As a trustee of a charity with which I was once involved once said to their colleagues, all of whom were in private sector roles, in a conversation about a social issue we were seeking to remedy, ‘if this stuff was so easy, you’d all be doing it and making a profit out of it by now’. Government is tough, decisions always involve compromise and trade-offs, choices are often between bad and not-so-bad options, and information is usually imperfect.
And what about the persistent characterisation in the media of the Civil Service as a faceless ‘blob’? Aren’t civil servants all tucked into nice offices in Whitehall (or, rather, these days, now in their home offices in leafy South East suburbs), protected from the realities of the cost-of-living crisis?
The wide variety of crucial roles undertaken by civil servants, essential for ensuring safe, healthy and strong communities up and down the country, is amazing. As the Civil Service Careers website proclaims “You could work as a vet, a teacher, a weapons engineer, a marine biologist or a web developer, to name a few examples”. My personal favourite recent Civil Service job advert was for a Kennel Manager with the Home Office’s Border Force!
And let’s please get over the argument that all Civil Servants work in Whitehall! It’s not entirely surprising that quite a few jobs are in our capital city near where our national government and the politicians that civil servants are employed to support are based. But over 80% of Civil Service jobs are based outside of London.
Wherever you want to work across the country, public service isn’t where you go if you are after the big bucks. In April 2024, the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the UK were £37,430. The median salary of all civil servants, however, is £33,980. At the most junior level of the Civil Service, the median salary is £24,480. Over four in ten (41.56%) of civil servants are paid below £30,000 (and only 0.57% - 2,915 people – earn over £100,000). Every Civil Service grade has seen a reduction in real-terms pay of 12–26% between 2010 and 2023.
These figures play a large part in explaining the high numbers leaving the Civil Service. Indeed, the 2022 Civil Service People Survey found that 55% of civil servants who intend to leave their role, either as soon as possible or in the next year, wish to do so "for a better pay and benefit package". These figures also impact talent attraction for the Civil Service. As one interviewee for the Institute for Government’s recent report stated, “Pay shouldn’t be the reason you come and work in government – but it genuinely is a huge barrier to getting the right people in."
And those huge pensions? Many retired civil servants depend on the State Pension to supplement their Civil Service pension. This is because the average Civil Service annual pension (FY2024/25) was just £10,200pa. And there is also a significant gender imbalance, with women’s average Civil Service pension only £7,502pa - almost half that of men’s average pension. The reality of pensioner poverty for many retired civil servants shatters the stereotype.
All of this has a very real impact on our Civil Service community. A recent survey, with responses from over 12,000 individuals, belied the suggestion that civil servants have been shielded from the struggles across society of the cost-of-living crisis. Indeed, some of the results of the survey make for sobering reading:
- 85% reported that the cost-of-living crisis has affected their physical or mental health
- 52% have worried about losing their home
- 40% have had to use credit to pay for essential shopping
- 35% say they have skipped meals because they had no food
- 9% have claimed benefits because of low pay
- 8% said they have used a foodbank
In that survey, 37% of survey respondents also said they are looking for a job outside the Civil Service, considering a career change for the good of their health. And that is backed up by Cabinet Office figures that revealed that the average number of working days lost per full-time-equivalent staff member in 2023-24 was a near record high of 7.8 days. They also showed that long-term sickness continues to be a growing proportion of sickness absence, with 4.6 days per staff year lost to long-term sickness compared to 4.4 in the previous year. Mental ill health was the biggest single cause of long-term sickness absence, accounting for 47% of days lost – up from 45% in 2022-23.
So, who is there to support these individuals? As our latest annual report highlights, the Charity for Civil Servants provided over 74,000 instances of help last year alone.
We support current, former and retired civil servants when they face tough times. From mental health struggles and financial assistance to relationship issues, getting through grief, and coping with disability, we’re here to help people stay strong, whatever life brings.
We’ve been here for civil servants for generations, providing an umbrella of support when it’s needed. We were founded by civil servants, and the vast majority of our support has always come from individual civil servants. Whilst we know the invaluable role that civil servants play in support of our country and our communities, we also know public sympathy for our colleagues in times of need is too often in short supply.
My time as CEO has made me more certain than ever that this Charity must continue to stand for civil servants and that this Charity must remain at the heart of the Civil Service community.
This is why, for 139 years, the Charity for Civil Servants has been here to support those in our community facing tough times.
And that is why civil servants need their own charity!