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In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[1]
As in other states that employ the Westminster political system, the Civil Service — often known by the metonym of Whitehall — forms an inseparable part of the British government. The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by the Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not of the British parliament. Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for the political advantage of the party in power. Senior civil servants may be called to account to Parliament.
In general use, the term civil servant in the United Kingdom does not include all public sector employees. Although there is no fixed legal definition, the term is usually defined as a "servant of the Crown working in a civil capacity who is not the holder of a political (or judicial) office; the holder of certain other offices in respect of whose tenure of office special provision has been made; [or] a servant of the Crown in a personal capacity paid from the Civil List".[2] As such, the civil service does not include government ministers (who are politically appointed); members of the British Armed Forces; police officers; officers of local government authorities; employees of some non-departmental public bodies;[3] officers or staff of either of the Houses of Parliament;[4][5] employees of the National Health Service (NHS); or staff of the Royal Household.[6] As at the end of March 2021 there were 484,880 civil servants in the Civil Service, an increase of 6.23 per cent on the previous year.[7]
The Northern Ireland Civil Service is a separate civil service in the United Kingdom.
- ^ "About us - Civil service". gov.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ Bradley and Ewing, p. 272.
- ^ Crown application. Cabinet Office. 2021. p. 15. OCLC 1274541502.
- ^ House of Commons Staff Handbook. The House of Commons. 2021. Part 1 / Chapter 2 / Section 1.
- ^ House of Lords Staff Handbook (PDF). House of Lords. 2014. p. 4.
- ^ "About us". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ "Civil Service Statistics: 2021" (PDF). gov.uk. UK Government. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2022.