Civil service employees

Summary

Civil service employee numbers released by the Office for National Statistics reveal that the Lancashire-12 area recorded a headcount of 8,080 in 2018 and the Lancashire-14 area had a total of 13,400. 

In total, 1.9% of the civil service jobs in the UK were in the Lancashire-12 area in 2018.  

Blackpool (4,820) accounted for over a third of the total civil service headcount in the Lancashire-14 area in 2018, followed by Preston (4,200) with nearly a third.

Chorley (1,150) had the next largest civil service headcounts locally.

In contrast, West Lancashire (80), Hyndburn (50), Pendle (40) and Rossendale (20) had the lowest numbers of civil servants in the Lancashire-14 area. 

Recent changes in civil service employee numbers

The civil service headcount has fallen by -5,470 (-40.4%) in the Lancashire-12 area and by -4,660 (-25.8%) in the Lancashire-14 area since 2008 (the recent peaks for the 2008 to 2018 data series).

For the UK as a whole, however, the civil service headcount peaked later, in 2010 at 527,480 employees, and has fallen by -104,850 (-19.9%). This is a lower percentage reduction than recorded for the Lancashire-14 or Lancashire-12 areas.

Wyre has seen the greatest reduction in the civil service headcount of the local authorities within the Lancashire-14 area, decreasing by -1,980 employees (-83.5%), from 2,370 in 2010, to 390 in 2018.

Civil Service headcounts have fallen in all of the Lancashire-14 authorities except Blackpool between 2008 and 2018. The 4,820 headcount recorded for 2018 in Blackpool is the highest for any Lancashire-14 authority, and the difference between the 2008 and 2018 figures constitutes an increase of 1,030, or 27.2%.

Civil Service employee numbers in Fylde district have fluctuated considerably in recent years. The headcount in Fylde fell to 1,460 in 2013, from 1,800 in 2009, rose by 500 employees to 1,960 in 2016, fell sharply to 1,870 in 2017 then again very steeply by -1,220 (-65.2%) to just 650 employees in 2018.

Yearly change in civil service employees, 2017 to 2018

Between 2017 and 2018, the total number of Civil Service employees in the UK (including overseas and unknown) rose by 10,680 employees (2.6%). Full-time employees rose by 10,230 (3.2%), and there was a gain of 440 part-time staff (0.5%).

By way of contrast to the UK, the Civil Service headcount fell in the Lancashire-14 area by -200 employees (-1.5%) between 2017 and 2018, and by -1,500 employees (-15.7%) in the Lancashire-12 area.

Fylde (-1,220) recorded the largest numeric decrease in Civil Service employees within the Lancashire-14 area between 2017 and 2018, followed by Preston (-440). Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley had falls of -40 or fewer. Pendle, Rossendale and Wyre saw no change in employee numbers over the year.

By way of contrast to the above, Blackpool (+1,320) registered the greatest increase in the Civil Service headcount in the Lancashire-14 area between 2017 and 2018, followed by Chorley (+130) and South Ribble (+60). Lancaster and West Lancashire recorded small increases (+20 and +10) in employees over the previous year.

Figure 1, Total Civil Service Headcounts by Department, districts in Lancashire-14 area, 2018 

Figure 1 shows the total headcounts by department and by district. The slide can be expanded to full-screen by the diagonal double-headed arrow at the right of its grey footer. Totals for one or more district can be displayed by clicking the boxes next to the district names. In the Lancashire-14 area 54% of Civil Service employees work in the Department for Work and Pensions.

Page updated March 2019