Organisation results

Each year around 100 government departments, agencies and other UK Civil Service organisations take part in the People Survey each year¹. This page provides a summary organisation scores, to view the results of a specific organisation use the drop-down menu below.

This page provides an overview of the scores for all organisations as well as a focus on main departments.

Select an organisation Acas Accountant in Bankruptcy Active Travel England Animal and Plant Health Agency Attorney General's Office Building Digital UK Cabinet Office Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Charity Commission Companies House Competition and Markets Authority Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Crown Commercial Service Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Crown Prosecution Service Defence Equipment and Support Department for Business and Trade Department for Culture, Media and Sport Department for Education Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Department for Transport Department for Work and Pensions Department of Health and Social Care Disclosure Scotland Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency Dstl Education Scotland Estyn FCDO Services Food Standards Agency Food Standards Scotland Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Forestry and Land Scotland Government Actuary's Department Government Internal Audit Agency Government Legal Department Government Property Agency HM CPS Inspectorate HM Courts and Tribunals Service HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services HM Land Registry HM Prison Service HM Prison and Probation Service Headquarters HM Revenue and Customs HM Treasury Health and Safety Executive Home Office Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Intellectual Property Office Legal Aid Agency Maritime and Coastguard Agency Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Met Office Ministry of Defence Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministry of Justice Ministry of Justice (group) Ministry of Justice Arm's Length and Other Bodies National Crime Agency National Infrastructure Commission National Records of Scotland National Savings and Investments Office for National Statistics Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills Office of Gas and Electricity Markets Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation Office of Rail and Road Office of the Public Guardian Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator Planning Inspectorate Probation Service Registers of Scotland Revenue Scotland Rural Payments Agency Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Offices, and the Office of the Advocate General Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Scottish Forestry Scottish Government Scottish Housing Regulator Scottish Prison Service Scottish Public Pensions Agency Serious Fraud Office Social Security Scotland Student Awards Agency Scotland Submarine Delivery Agency The Insolvency Service The National Archives Transport Scotland UK Debt Management Office UK Export Finance UK Health Security Agency UK Hydrographic Office UK Space Agency UK Statistics Agency UK Statistics Agency (group) Valuation Office Agency Vehicle Certification Agency Veterinary Medicines Directorate Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) Welsh Government Welsh Revenue Authority Wilton Park

All organisations

Across all most all questions and measures in the People Survey there is substantial variation in organisation scores, in 2024 the headline engagement index ranged from 52.0% to 80.5%. Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3, below, demonstrate the variation of organisation scores in the People Survey. From these three charts we can observe some general patterns:

• The ‘engagement index’ benchmark score and organisation scores rose steadily between 2009 and 2020, but the benchmark has dropped since 2020.
• Most organisations have had consistently high scores for the themes of ‘my work’, ‘my team’, and ‘resources and workload’ over time. However, the benchmark for the ‘my work’ theme has declined somewhat from its 2020 peak.
• In most organisations the scores for the ‘my manager’, ‘learning and development’ and ‘inclusion and fair treatment’ themes have seen steady improvements since 2009/2010. The ‘learning and development’ theme has seen regular year-on-year increases both in the benchmark and organisation scores since its low point in 2010. However the benchmark score for the ‘inclusion and fair treatment’ theme has declined since its 2020/2021 peak.
• While the overall benchmark score for the ‘organisational objectives and purpose’ theme has remained relatively stable from 2009 to 2024 this masks a changeable pattern in organisation scores. Each year many organisations see changes in their scores for this theme, however declines in some organisations are offset by increases in others resulting in the benchmark score (a median of all organisations’ scores) not changing substantially year-on-year.
• The ‘pay and benefits’ theme saw a sizeable drop after 2010 with only limited movement until 2018/19 and finally scoring above its 2009 starting position in 2020. However, the benchmark for the ‘pay and benefits’ theme score dropped to its lowest level ever in 2022 most likely due to the cost-of-living crisis. The benchmark has recovered somewhat since 2022, with most organisations have seen improvements in their score, but the benchmark remains below it’s 2009 baseline.
• The ‘leadership and managing change’ theme has seen some of the largest increases, both in the benchmark and organisation scores. The score for this theme rose consistently from 2009 to 2019, and a substantial jump between 2019 and 2020/21 likely due to the response to Covid-19 pandemic. While the benchmark and organisation scores have dropped slightly since the pandemic bump they remain notably above the 2009 baseline.

Figure 1 shows the range of organisation scores for the engagement index and nine main themes of the survey from 2009 to 2024. The light blue area shows the extent of the highest and lowest scores each year. The medium blue area shows area shows the lower and upper quartile scores each year, that is the range of scores for the middle 50% of organisations. The dark blue line shows the Civil Service benchmark score (the median of organisation scores), half of organisations score above this value and half score below.

Figure 1: Summary of organisation scores for the engagement index and theme scores between 2009 and 2024

Figure 2 shows the change in score for the engagement index and nine theme scores between 2023 and 2024 for each organisation². Each arrow starts on the vertical axis at the organisation’s 2023 score, the position of the arrow’s head indicates the organisation’s 2024 score (on the vertical axis) and the change in score (on the horizontal axis).

Figure 2: Changes in organisation scores for the engagement index and theme scores from 2023 to 2024

Figure 3 illustrates the change in organisation scores for the engagement index and nine theme theme scores for the 52 organisations that can be directly tracked for all 16 years from 2009 to 2024. Each ridgeline shows the relative change in score for each organisation, ordered by overall scale of changes by measure: the smallest overall changes for a given measure are at the bottom of the chart and the largest changes over time are at the top.

Figure 3: Overview of changes in organisational scores from 2009 to 2024

Main departments

Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6 summarise the results for the 17 ‘main departments’ of the UK government (sometimes called ‘Whitehall departments’)³ as well as the results for the Scottish and Welsh governments.

Figure 4 shows the 2024 headline scores for the main departments and devolved administrations. In 2024, most of the main departments and devolved administration scored close to the Civil Service Benchmark across the engagement index and nine theme scores.

Only the Welsh Government scored above the Civil Service benchmark for the engagement index and all nine theme scores, including six themes where it scored more than 3 percentage points above the benchmark. Four of the main departments (the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; the Department for Education; the Department for energy and Net Zero; and, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) scored at least 3 percentage points above the benchmark for three of the survey’s headline measures.

Two main departments (the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Justice) scored below the Civil Service benchmark for the engagement index and all nine theme scores, the Ministry of Justice scored below the benchmark by 3 or more percentage points for seven of the survey’s headline measures and the Ministry of Defence scored below the benchmark by 3 or more percentage points for five of the survey’s headline measures.

Two main departments (the Cabinet Office and the Home Office) scored at least 3 percentage points below the Civil Service benchmark for the engagement index and four of the nine survey themes. A further four main departments (the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; the Department for Transport; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and, HM Revenue and Customs) scored at least 3 percentage points for four of the survey’s headline measures.

Figure 4: 2024 headline scores for the main departments and devolved administrations

Figure 5 shows the change in score for the main departments and devolved administrations between 2023 and 2024, in most cases there is only a small change in scores of between plus and minus 2 percentage points.

Eight of the main departments and both devolved administrations saw increases in their score for the pay and benefits theme of 3 or more percentage points, including a 13 percentage point increase at the Department of Energy and Climate Change and an 8 percentage point increase at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Department for Health and Social Care was the only main department to see an increase in each of its headline scores, including increases of 3 or more percentage points for the engagement index and six of the nine theme scores. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero saw increases for all but one of the survey’s headline measures, including increases of 3 or more percentage points for the engagement index and four theme scores, only the learning and development theme scores did not see an increase, remaining unchanged from 2023.

The Department for Transport was the only main department to see a notable pattern of decline across the survey’s headline measures with a decrease of 3 percentage points or more for the engagement index and four of the survey’s nine themes.

Figure 5: Change in the headline scores for the main departments and devolved administrations 2023 to 2024

Figure 6 provides an interactive visualisation of the trend in score for the main departments and devolved administrations from 2009 to 2024 for the engagement index and nine theme scores. Use the dropdown menu to select an organisation, their results will show in orange, the blue line shows the Civil Service benchmark, the thin grey lines show the scores of the other main departments and devolved administrations.

Figure 6: 2009 to 2024 trend in headline scores for the main departments and devolved administrations

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bm_p50 = transpose(bm_ojs)

bm_2024 = bm_p50.filter((d) => { return d.year == 2024});

viewof my_dept = Inputs.select(
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)

my_2024 = my_dept.filter((d) => { return d.year == 2024});

Plot.plot({
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    width: 1000,
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Footnotes

1. Add organisation definition note.

2. A small number of differences greater than ±10 percentage points (26 in total) have been excluded from the chart. Several of these relate to changes in small organisations, which owing to their size can be more likely to experience larger variations in score between years. 1 organisation (HM CPS Inspectorate) is responsible for 7 of these differences, 3 organisations are responsible for 2 differences each, while 13 organisations are responsible for 1 difference each.

3. The term “Whitehall” is often used as a shorthand for the UK government and the Civil Service. In the context of the Civil Service, “Whitehall” is often used to mean the headquarters/policy-making functions that are based in central London and excluding functions delivered by executive agencies. There are no standard definitions of “Whitehall”, instead this website prefers ‘main departments’ to refer to the main ministerial departments of the UK government and HM Revenue and Customs (as the largest non-ministerial department and employing around 13% of the Civil Service).