WIREDGOV

Civil Service Staff numbers for October 2000 were published today. At 1 October 2000, the number of permanent Civil Servants was 478,500 (full-time equivalents). This was an increase of 3,100 or 0.7 per cent on six months earlier. There was also an increase of 1,900 in the number of casual staff between April 2000 and October 2000.

Taking permanent and casual staff together there was an increase of about 5,000 staff, 1.0 per cent, in comparison to April 2000 figures.

In the complete year to October 2000, the number of permanent staff increased by 12,100 or 2.6 per cent. There was a fall of around 1,500 in the number of casual staff, so the overall level of staffing increased by some 10,600 i.e. 2.2 per cent.

Over the six month period to October 2000, numbers of full-time staff increased by 1,600 and the number of part-time staff increased by 2,000 bringing total staff numbers on a headcount basis to 501,300. Part-time staff represent 13.4 per cent of all Civil Servants, up from 13.1 per cent six months before and 12.7 per cent in October 1999.

Main Changes in Departments and Agencies Most of the increase in permanent staff numbers in the six months to October 2000 were connected to increased volumes of work or the provision of new services, including:

* Home Office - up 1,950 because staff were recruited to speed up consideration of immigration and asylum cases;

* Child Support Agency - up 540 due to extra workload on the Child Support Reform project;

* Prison Service - up 1620 reflecting the continuing upward trend of the prison population and the movement from short term agency to permanent staff. There has also been a reduction in the number of staff on long-term sickness absence, which means that some staff previously excluded from the figures are now being counted;

Increase in Casual staff in the six months to October can be attributed mainly to:

* Employment Service - The increase in casual staff (up 1,700) is as a result of the introduction/enhancement of New Deal programmes; the Post 16 review and the Job Seekers'' Allowance restart function. The majority are temporary posts. These have been partially offset by a reduction in mainstream resource because of falling unemployment;

* Benefits Agency - up 370 because of temporary cover required for vacancies arising from the movement of staff into the Field Operations area (''Focus on delivery'' exercise).

Organisational changes during the six months October 2000 include:

* April 2000 - Information Technology Services Agency (DSS) was re-absorbed by its parent Department. In August 2000 many of the former agency''s functions and staff were transferred to the Affinity Consortium. ITSA ceased to exist in October 2000 (staff still on the ITSA payroll at October 2000 have been relocated to other parts of DSS);

* 1 April 2000 - Small Business Service launched as an Executive Agency of the DTI;

* 3 April 2000 - The Appeals Service launched as an Executive Agency of the DSS.

Diversity in the Civil Service 250,400 staff working in the Civil Service are women; 50.0 per cent of staff in post, compared with 49.8 per cent in April 2000. The proportion of staff who are from ethnic minority groups has increased slightly, from 5.8 per cent in April 2000 to 6.0 per cent in October 2000.

The proportion of staff who have a disability appears to be broadly stable at 3.6 per cent over the same period.

These statistics on ethnic origins and disability should, however, be interpreted with caution, particularly year on year changes. Information on Ethnic Origin and Disability are collected on voluntary, self-classification questionnaires and there are a considerable number of non-respondents.

Diversity at Senior Civil Service level A target of 35 per cent of the SCS to be women by 2005 was set in the 1999 Modernising Government White Paper. The estimated figure for October 2000 is 22.5 per cent, compared to 21.6 per cent in April 2000. The proportion of women at JESP 13 and above is around 19 per cent for September 2000 compared to around 18 per cent in April 2000. The White Paper had set a target for 25 per cent of this group to be women by 2005.

2.4 per cent of staff at Senior Civil Service level were from ethnic minority backgrounds, a slight increase from 2.1 per cent in April 2000. The target for the Senior Civil Service set in the White Paper was 3.2 per cent by 2005.

1.6 per cent of staff at Senior Civil Service level were known to have a disability compared with 1.7 per cent six months before. The target for the Senior Civil Service set in the White Paper was 3.0 per cent.

The figures on gender above are estimates. The actual figures collected and reported in the publication refer to the wider group than the SCS. The proportion of staff in post in the wider group who were women rose to 20.3 per cent in October 2000, an increase from 19.5 per cent from six months earlier.

The number of staff at Senior Civil Service level rose by 220, or 5.9 per cent, in the six months to October 2000. This group includes a number of senior specialist staff as well as those in the Senior Civil Service.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The headline staffing figures are full time equivalents and give appropriate weight to the hours worked by part-time staff in calculating full-time equivalents. On average, a part-time employee works for 3.2 days a week. Figures quoted in the news release are rounded. More detailed figures, including details on a headcount basis are also provided in the media brief, available from the Cabinet Press Office on request.

2. Staff employed in the Scottish Parliament, established in July, are not included in these figures. Like the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament is not part of the Civil Service.

3. Tables showing permanent and casual staff in post numbers at 1 October 2000 by department and by agency are available from 020-7276 1532 or on the website address below. They give figures for industrial, non-industrial permanent and casual staff on a full-time equivalent basis and, also permanent staff on a headcount basis (full-time and part-time) staff.

4. Civil Service summary staffing statistics are published twice a year, for April and October. Details of the numbers of staff in each department and executive agency are placed in the Libraries of the two Houses and made available on the Internet at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/index/statistics.htm

5. Figures for the SCS and for Senior Staff at JESP 13 and above are collected in a different way from overall staffing levels. Statistics on the SCS per se are collected only once a year in April and the proportion of SCS staff who are women is therefore an estimate.

6. More detailed statistical information about Civil Service staff, is published annually. Civil Service Statistics 1999 relating to the year to 1st April 1999, was published in March 2000 and is available to the media from Cabinet Office Press Office or on the Website above.

7. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. Details of National Statistics policy governing the release of new data are available from the ONS Press Office on 020 7533 5725.

Cabinet Office Press Office 70 Whitehall LONDON SW1A 2AS Tel: 020 7270 0393 - Fax: 020 7270 0618 Out of hours telephone 07699 113300 and ask for pager number 721338. Cabinet Office press notices are available on the World Wide Web: http://www.nds.coi.gov.uk/coi/coipress.nsf