Number of civil servants employed
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WQ.51/2026
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHAIR OF THE STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD
BY DEPUTY M.B. ANDREWS OF ST HELIER NORTH
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2026
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 2nd MARCH 2026
Question
"Will the Chair provide a breakdown, for each of the last 5 years, of the total number of civil servants employed within each Government department?"
Answer
The below table shows the total headcount of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Civil Servants employed in each Government Department as at 31 December of each year, 2021 – 2025.
The recruitment freeze introduced in August 2024 has remained in place throughout 2025 and has slowed the growth in the number of civil servants during this period. The most substantial increases in civil servant numbers occurred between 2021 and 2023, before the freeze was implemented.
The table includes any employee on a Permanent or Fixed-Term Contract and a Civil Servant Grade (CS01 – CS15). The table also includes senior Civil Servants who are paid outside of the Civil Servant Pay Scale (Personal Contract Holders), such as Chief Officers and Directors.
The table excludes any employee solely on a Zero-Hour contract or any employee on a non-CS grade. Employees who are employed in multiple departments have their FTE included per department worked in. The FTE figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. For ease of comparison between the years, previous years have been mapped against the 2025 Department structure.
It is to be noted that CS grades include roles such as Allied Health Professionals, Social Workers, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, other talking therapy and mental health roles.
Civil Servants | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Cabinet Office | 239 | 216 | 178 | 157 | 152 |
Children, Young People, Edu & Skills | 436 | 482 | 573 | 616 | 620 |
Department for the Economy | 42 | 60 | 75 | 71 | 69 |
Department of External Relations | 10 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
Digital Services | 152 | 198 | 194 | 186 | 174 |
Employment, Social Security and Housing | 233 | 244 | 266 | 269 | 270 |
Health and Care Jersey | 756 | 855 | 920 | 1007 | 1070 |
Infrastructure and Environment | 298 | 351 | 383 | 416 | 421 |
Justice and Home Affairs | 234 | 235 | 265 | 277 | 276 |
Non-Ministerial Departments | 180 | 155 | 164 | 185 | 188 |
People Services | 119 | 138 | 141 | 124 | 117 |
Treasury and Exchequer | 298 | 347 | 347 | 363 | 346 |
The below table splits the net growth to 2021 – January 2024 and February 2024 – December 2025, pre and post the change in Government, to highlight the effects of curbing civil service growth:
Civil Servants | Net Growth 2021 - January 2024 | Net Growth February 2024 - December 2025 |
Cabinet Office | -57* | -18 |
Children, Young People, Edu & Skills | 152 | 39 |
Department for the Economy | 34 | -6 |
Department of External Relations | 3 | 1 |
Digital Services | 44 | -23 |
Employment, Social Security and Housing | 35 | 3 |
Health and Care Jersey | 185 | 125 |
Infrastructure and Environment | 98 | 24 |
Justice and Home Affairs | 40 | 3 |
Non-Ministerial Departments | -8 | 16 |
People Services | 29 | -25 |
Treasury and Exchequer | 54 | -13 |
Between 2021 and January 2024, the number of civil servants increased by 609.
Between February 2024 to December 2025, civil servants increased by 126. This additional limited growth was primarily driven by essential front-lines services, Health and Care Jersey and Children, Young People, Education and Skills. This reflects the targeted reduction and reliance in agency and temporary staffing.
* During Covid, an additional 107 Headcount (103FTE) were employed. The -57 figure relates to FTE changes in hours and the release of civil servants on Covid Fixed Term Contracts.