Research and analysis

Pay reform for the senior civil service

This research from the Institute for Government explores civil service pay reform and capability-based pay.

From:
Office for the Pay Review Bodies and Office of Manpower Economics
Published
10 November 2021

Documents

Pay reform for the senior civil service

PDF, 488 KB, 34 pages

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Pay reform for the senior civil service: Annex

PDF, 324 KB, 15 pages

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Details

This research was commissioned by the Office of Manpower Economics. It found that:

  • a capability-based pay system will not be viable unless the government can guarantee sufficient funding to support pay rises
  • capability-based pay alone is unlikely to do much to reduce turnover. While pay contributes to churn there are many other relevant factors including, most importantly, promotion prospects
  • capability-based pay needs to accommodate specialists who stay in post and become deep subject matter experts
  • end-of-year bonuses are not being used as a strategic tool for driving improved performance, capability or motivation, and should be scrapped when a capability-based pay system is implemented, although in-year awards should be retained
  • there is an overlap between the concepts of performance and capability
  • the Scottish and Welsh governments should, on balance, be granted the power to decide pay scales for their own senior civil servants

Updates to this page

Published 10 November 2021

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