IfG's Annual Whitehall Stocktake: The civil service needs to change to deliver Labour's missions

High staff turnover, confused workforce planning, slipping morale and uncompetitive pay are hindering the civil service’s ability to deliver Labour’s missions, finds the IfG’s annual data-driven stocktake of the size, shape and performance of the civil service.

Published today, Whitehall Monitor 2025 examines the civil service that Keir Starmer’s government inherited after the July 2024 election – and finds little evidence that Labour’s mission-led approach has truly gripped Whitehall’s way of working so far.  

Both Starmer and Pat McFadden have called for Whitehall reform, but change in Whitehall takes time and current proposals – including a commitment to a “test and learn” mindset and “mission boards” – need to be more specific to address Whitehall’s fundamental problems. From excessive staff turnover in many areas to falling morale, little will change until these long-running challenges are resolved.

Six months since winning the general election, the Labour government urgently needs to kickstart the fundamental reforms needed to successfully “rewire” the British state and deliver its missions.

Key analysis in the report includes:  

Civil service turnover increased in 2023/24 

• In 2023/24, more than one in 10 civil servants (12.7%) either moved between departments or left the civil service entirely - the second highest level of churn in the civil service since at least 2010/11. 
• Overall turnover was highest in 2023/24 in DHSC (24%) and at the centre of government, in the Treasury (21.8%) and the Cabinet Office (20.5%).
   

Grade inflation across the civil service – driven by low pay - has seen a rise in mid-level grades 

• While numbers of the most junior AO/AA grades have declined by 45% since 2010, those of mid-level grade 6s and 7s have risen by 121%. 
• The number of grade 6s and 7s has risen by more than 200% in the Home Office, DHSC, DCMS and DfE.  In the Cabinet Office, the rise is 422%.

Civil service pay rose in 2024 but remains uncompetitive  

• Median pay in 2024 almost returned to its 2010 level in real terms, though was still lower than in 2020 and 2021. 
• Different grades have fared differently on real-terms pay – pay for the senior civil service is 24% lower than 2010 in real terms.
   

Civil service morale fell for the third year in a row in 2023 

• Officials’ satisfaction with their leadership and how change is managed also declined for the third time, even though satisfaction with pay increased.
   

The civil service has continued to become more diverse 

• Diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity and disability status continues to increase, with the civil service close to or exceeding the population benchmarks for these characteristics. 
• Women’s representation in the senior civil service reached 48.2% in 2024, just shy of the population benchmark of 48.8%. But the senior civil service lags behind on ethnic diversity and disabled representation. 
• Staff from high socio-economic backgrounds dominate the civil service, and comprise over 70% of senior civil servants.

Jack Worlidge, IfG senior researcher and lead report author, said:

“Fundamental problems in Whitehall are risking the success of the government’s missions. Fixing these challenges – from excessive staff turnover to falling morale and grade inflation – must be the starting point for civil service reform.

“Both the problems and potential solutions have been raked over for years, and in some cases for decades. So there will be little excuse for a lack of progress this year. The government must move beyond its vague plans and use 2025 to kickstart meaningful reforms in Whitehall.”