Senior Civil Servants: Parents

(asked on 19th April 2022) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Senior Civil Service database maintained by his Department, what proportion of senior civil servants employed across all Government departments at the end of March 2022, said that at the time they were aged 14, they had at least one parent working in (a) a higher managerial, administrative or professional occupation, (b) an intermediate occupation or (c) a routine or manual occupation.


Answered by
Heather Wheeler Portrait
Heather Wheeler
This question was answered on 27th April 2022

The Declaration on Government Reform and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, 2022-2025, commits the Government to drawing on talent from all backgrounds. Representation is increasing and whilst this trend is positive, we remain committed to improving representation across the broadest range of diversity across our workforce and in particular at our most senior grades.

To build on the progress made over recent years and target where improvement is still needed, the Government will take a holistic approach to SCS recruitment to identify and remove barriers to underrepresented groups entering and progressing in the SCS. There are a number of initiatives aimed at supporting colleagues to reach the Senior Civil Service from a diverse range of backgrounds including the Civil Service Fast Stream, Future Leaders Scheme and Senior Leaders Scheme.

Information on the diversity of the Senior Civil Service for 2022, sourced from the SCS Database, is not yet available. In responding to these PQs we have, therefore, used the latest available finalised annual SCS Database which is as at 1 April 2021.

All figures are a percentage of only those SCS that have made a positive declaration (i.e. they do not include prefer not to say, not known or not applicable responses in the denominator).

SCS by ethnicity, as at 1 April 2021

Ethnicity

Percentage of SCS (where ethnicity is known)

White

91.8%

Black

1.4%

Asian

4.2%

Mixed

1.8%

Other

0.8%

SCS by age, as at 1 April 2021

Age category

Percentage of SCS (where age is known)

Below 35

4.8%

35-44

34.1%

45-54

38.4%

55-64

21.5%

65+

1.1%

SCS by sex, as at 1 April 2021

The SCS Database currently only captures data on the sex of individuals. As at 1 April 2021, 47.3% of SCS members, where sex has been provided, were reported as women, with 52.7% reported as men. At present, data is not collected in the SCS database on gender.

Entry year to the Civil Service for SCS, as at 1 April 2021

Date of entry

Percentage of SCS (where entry date known)

Before 1980

1.1%

1980-89

11.9%

1990-99

16.9%

2000-2009

37.7%

2010 or later

32.4%

SCS who were members of the Fast Stream, as of 1 April 2021

As at 1 April 2021, 20.4% of SCS members, where Fast Stream status has been provided, responded that they were successful in the Central Fast Stream selection process. This figure will also include members that were successful in applying to the Central Fast Stream after their initial entry to the Civil Service.

SCS holding university degrees, as of 1 April 2021

As at 1 April 2021, 11.2% of SCS, where degree status is known, did not have a university degree.

For those with a degree, where degree status and University is known:

  • 80.1% did not obtain their first degree at Oxford or Cambridge University,

  • 63.1% did not obtain their first degree at a non-oxbridge Russell Group university, and

  • 56.8% did not obtain their first degree at a non-Russell Group UK university, and

  • 98.0% did not obtain their first degree at a non-UK university.

SCS by socio-economic background, as of 1 April 2021

Response rates in the SCS Database to questions relating to Socio Economic Background are currently below acceptable quality thresholds. It is therefore not possible to provide data on SCS by :

  • Self-declared socio-economic background;

  • Formal educational qualification of parents;

  • Type of secondary school attended;

  • Parental occupation; and

  • Eligibility for free school meals.

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