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Written question asked by Alex Burghart (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 June 2026. It was answered by Satvir Kaur (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Civil Service: Labour Turnover

Question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment has (1) his Department and (2) Civil Service People Group made of the (i) level and (ii) frequency of churn in Civil Service positions, in relation to (A) staff moving positions within departments and (B) staff moving to different positions in other departments; and what is the average length in post of a (1) junior and (2) senior civil servant.

Answer

Assessments of turnover and time in post are made routinely on an annual basis. The available figures for each point are:

A - Figures on movements within departments for the Civil Service as a whole are not available centrally, however estimates for the centrally managed Senior Civil Service are available. This is the percentage of SCS in each financial year estimated to have changed roles within the same department:

Financial year

20/21

21/22

22/23

23/24

24/25

SCS moves within department

3.4%

3.9%

4.1%

3.6%

3.7%

B - Percentage of the Civil Service estimated to have moved between departments in each financial year:

Financial year

14/15

15/16

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

20/21

21/22

22/23

23/24

24/25

Civil Service moves between departments

1.6%

1.5%

3.3%

2.4%

2.5%

2.7%

2.6%

4.7%

3.0%

5.2%

1.8%

Note that figures for 21/22 and 23/24 include movements between Departments due to large Machinery of Government changes, which increase the rate due to systematic changes and may not reflect the underlying rate of movements.

1 - Average time in post for Civil Service grades below Senior Civil Service level is not held centrally.

2 - Median time in post as of 1st April in each year for the centrally managed Senior Civil Service currently in post:

Year

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

SCS median time in post

2.0

2.0

1.9

2.0

1.9

2.0

2.0

1.9

2.1

2.5

2.7

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
12779
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Civil service Labour turnover
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk