Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo is urging a redesign of pay and performance rules, arguing incentives that make transfers the quickest route to raises contribute to staff churn.
Speaking at the London School of Economics on Nov. 10, Romeo said the civil service must respond to criticism that it is “tame and risk-averse,” reactive and divided across departments. She called for stronger action on poor performance and more recognition for expertise and effective work.
The civil service had 557,825 employees as of March 31, 2026, according to Cabinet Office statistics. For the 2026-27 senior civil service pay award, the government allocated 1% of the total pay bill to performance-related salary progression. Romeo described the measure as an initial step toward broader reform.
Separate figures show pressure on public services overall. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provisionally estimated that total UK public service productivity in calendar 2025 was 2.9% below its 2019 level, despite increasing 0.5% during the year. The figures measure public services as a whole, not the performance of individual civil servants.
Romeo argued that improving productivity could help services meet rising demand without a comparable increase in taxpayer support. She also called for simpler recruitment and more use of artificial intelligence for routine work, with safeguards and human decision-making retained.
Institute for Government Associate Director Hannah Keenan and Executive Director for Impact and Influence Alex Thomas welcomed the focus on incentives but said visible action would be needed to demonstrate substantial change. Romeo also invoked the 1854 Northcote–Trevelyan report, which she connected to the creation of Britain's permanent, politically impartial civil service.
A refreshed Civil Service Code is due in spring 2027. A government review launched in July 2026, covering the service's structure, performance, pay, recruitment and use of AI, is scheduled to report before summer 2027.
