Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of the total number of positions in the home civil service; and how many of these posts fall under the UK Government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland executive respectively.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The table below shows the number of home civil servants on a headcount and FTE basis as at 30 June 2025 by UK central government departments, Scottish Government and Welsh Government. The Northern Ireland Executive is supported by the Northern Ireland Civil Service which is not part of the home civil service.
| Headcount | Full-time equivalent (FTE) |
UK Central Government Departments | 516,005 | 483,980 |
Scottish Government | 28,730 | 27,325 |
Welsh Government | 5,995 | 5,660 |
Home Civil Service Total | 550,730 | 516,950 |
Source: Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS
Notes:
Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding
Figures include Diplomatic Service.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
At the UK-EU Summit in May, the UK agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme on financial terms to be mutually agreed, which should ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions of and benefits to the UK. Negotiations are ongoing, and the timelines for any association are subject to further discussion.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will allow representatives of political parties from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to discuss their legislative programmes with UK civil servants in the event that there is a realistic prospect of those parties entering government in their respective devolved administrations.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The approach to any discussions between opposition parties and officials of the devolved governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for those governments. The Cabinet Manual sets out that it is for the Prime Minister to authorise contact between UK Government civil servants and opposition parties ahead of a general election.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the latest figure for the total number of people employed in the Civil Service, and how many of those people are employed in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, (4) Northern Ireland, and (5) overseas.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Headline information on the number of civil servants are published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the accredited official statistics release ‘Public Sector Employment Statistics’. Latest data as at June 2025 shows that there are 550,730 civil servants on a headcount basis and 516,950 on a FTE basis.
More detailed information on employment numbers by region including overseas are published annually by the Cabinet Office as part of the accredited official statistics release ‘Civil Service Statistics’. Latest information as at 31 March 2025 can be found at table 1 below:
Table 1: Regional distribution of Civil Service employment, as at 31 March 2025
Country | Headcount | FTE |
England | 440,845 | 413,970 |
Northern Ireland | 4,880 | 4,640 |
Scotland | 56,675 | 53,275 |
Wales | 41,155 | 38,220 |
Overseas | 3,760 | 3,740 |
Unknown | 2,345 | 2,300 |
Total | 549,660 | 516,150 |
Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES), Cabinet Office
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish details of any changes in department responsibility which have been implemented in conjunction with recent changes in Ministerial portfolios.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The List of Ministerial Responsibilities will be updated in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the employee activity rates for people aged between 16 and 25 in (1) Wales, (2) England, (3) Scotland, and (4) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th June is attached.
Dear Lord Wigley,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what are the employee activity rates for people aged between 16 and 25 in (1) Wales, (2) England, (3) Scotland, and (4) Northern Ireland (HL8389).
An employee activity rate measures the amount of time employees spend engaged in productive billable work, versus non-billable activities. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not collect any information from businesses on their estimated employee activity rates.
We can estimate the proportion of the population aged from 16 to 25 years, that are employed as employees, which may be interpreted as an employee activity rate.
The ONS uses the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK, to estimate the number of employees in the countries of the UK and the proportion of the population aged from 16 to 25 years that this represents.
Table 1 contains APS estimates of the number of employees aged 16 to 25 years and the proportion of the population of that age this represents, for the countries of the UK, for the period January to December 2024, the latest data currently available.
The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on the Annual Population Survey (APS) are subject to increased volatility and are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
Table 1: Number of employees aged 16 to 25 years and the proportion of the population of that age that represents, for the countries of the UK, January to December 2024.
| Number of employees aged 16 to 25 years (thousands) | Proportion of population aged 16 to 25 years (%) |
England | 3,257 | 50.7 |
Wales | 195 | 52.9 |
Scotland | 330 | 53.8 |
Northern Ireland | 114 | 52.1 |
Source: Annual Population Survey
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest employee activity rates for (1) England and each of the regions of England, (2) Northern Ireland, (3) Scotland, (4) Wales, and (5) the United Kingdom as a whole.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of HL6457 is attached.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
8 April 2025
Dear Lord Wigley,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what are the latest employee activity rates for (1) England and each of the regions of England, (2) Northern Ireland, (3) Scotland, (4) Wales, and (5) the United Kingdom as a whole (HL6457).
An employee activity rate measures the amount of time employees spend engaged in productive billable work, versus non-billable activities. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not collect any information from businesses on their estimated employee activity rates.
We can estimate the proportion of the population aged from 16 to 64 years, that are employed as employees, which may be interpreted as an employee activity rate.
The ONS uses the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK, to estimates of the number of employees in the regions and countries of the UK and the proportion of the population aged from 16 to 64 years that this represents.
Table 1 contains APS estimates of the number of employees aged 16 to 64 years and the proportion of the population of that age this represents, for the regions and countries of the UK, for the period October 2023 to September 2024, the latest data currently available. Table 1 should be read in conjunction with the advice on quality contained in the footnotes of this response.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number of employees aged 16 to 64 years and the proportion of the population of that age that represents, for the regions and countries of the UK, October 2023 to September 2024[1].
| Number of employees aged 16 to 64 years (thousands) | Proportion of population aged 16 to 64 years (%) |
North East | 1,050 | 64.1 |
North West | 2,962 | 65.4 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 2,214 | 65.1 |
East Midlands | 2,007 | 67.4 |
West Midlands | 2,402 | 65.7 |
East of England | 2,555 | 66.8 |
London | 3,975 | 64.2 |
South East | 3,894 | 69.0 |
South West | 2,258 | 67.0 |
England | 23,316 | 66.2 |
Wales | 1,242 | 64.5 |
Scotland | 2,270 | 65.5 |
Northern Ireland | 760 | 64.6 |
United Kingdom | 24,558 | 66.1 |
Source: Annual Population Survey
[1]The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on both the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the APS are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review. Because of increased volatility of LFS and APS estimates, estimates of change should be treated with additional caution. The APS estimates have not been weighted to the same populations as the LFS. Therefore, all APS tables will be inconsistent with those used for LFS in the latest periods.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many statutory public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005 are currently still active; whether each inquiry has a target date for its completion; and whether there are financial resources ear-marked to cover the ongoing costs.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are currently 10 statutory public inquiries established by HM Government under the Inquiries Act 2005 still active. Each inquiry has a sponsor department whose role includes covering ongoing costs. The duration of an inquiry is a matter for the inquiry chair, who usually has target dates for completion.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, since July 2024 with the Royal Household about the inclusion of a symbolic representation of Wales on the royal standard.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Since July 2024, no discussion has been held with the Royal Household by the government about the inclusion of a symbolic representation of Wales on the royal standard.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 19 November (HL2370), what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for the regions of England.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
4 December 2024
Dear Lord Wigley,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 19 November (HL2370), what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for the regions of England (HL3125).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, and how many of those are in employment as employees, as opposed to other forms of employment such as self-employed.
Due to the current smaller sample sizes being achieved by the LFS, recent estimates are showing increased volatility and should be treated with additional caution.
The latest available estimates (July to September 2024) of the rates of employees for people aged 16 to 64 years, determined as the percentage of the population in employment as an employee, resident in each of England’s nine regions, are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Rates of employees, people aged 16 to 64 years, regions in England, not seasonally adjusted.
Region in England | July to September 2024 |
North East | 65.4 |
North West | 65.9 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 64.1 |
East Midlands | 66.8 |
West Midlands | 65.3 |
East | 67.5 |
London | 65.1 |
South East | 68.1 |
South West | 67.1 |
Source: Labour Force Survey
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond