Official Statistics

Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2021 to 2022

Published 23 March 2023

This publication forms part of the Home Office’s response to Recommendation 28 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which states:

“The department should publish comprehensive annual workforce data, so it can monitor progress.”

The statistics included in this release examine representation by grade where possible, and by different areas within the Home Office. This is important to make sure that the Home Office workforce reflects the communities it serves.

The findings presented in this report are based on data from the department’s central human resources reporting system (known as ‘Metis’), as at 31 March 2022. The majority of the data has been self-reported by staff. Self-reporting is voluntary, and therefore the findings relate only to a subset (section) of the Home Office workforce.

The statistics show that, while increasing from 2021, there is still underrepresentation in both the Senior Civil Service (SCS) and in the pipeline to SCS for ethnic minority staff. The data shows that staff with disabilities are underrepresented throughout the overall workforce compared with the population estimates for 16 to 64 year olds, however the proportion of SCS with disabilities has increased by 2.4 percentage points in the last year (from 6.7% to 9.1%).

A main focus of the department’s approach to diversity and inclusion is to make sure the Home Office workforce is representative of the communities it serves, while also focusing on accountability and inclusion to support this aim.

The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022 to 2025 highlights the importance of considering a broader definition of diversity, such as socioeconomic, work experience and geographic backgrounds. The Home Office collects data on socioeconomic background with the aim of providing richer data on representation within the workforce. This data is currently not of sufficient quality to include in this publication but this information is planned to be included in future publications.

1. Introduction

As at 31 March 2022 the Home Office employed approximately 36,000 people in a wide range of roles across the UK and overseas. For the purposes of this analysis, staff have been grouped according to the area of the Home Office they work in:

• Migration and borders - staff in this area includes those working in UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Migration and Borders policy, and His Majesty’s Passport Office
• Homeland security - staff in this area work to counter threats from terrorism
• Public safety - this includes staff who support work on policing and fire and rescue services
• Corporate and support - this includes staff that support other functions through a variety of means, including analysis, private offices, HR, and IT

The names of these area groupings have changed compared with last year’s Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2020 to 2021. The business areas within each grouping remain the same. See definitions section for further information.

As shown in Figure 1, the majority of staff (78%) are employed in roles related to migration and borders. This includes a large number of operational staff such as Border Force officers and UKVI caseworkers. Staff working in roles related to public safety (5% of the total workforce), and homeland security (3% of the total) account for much smaller proportions of the total workforce. As a result of the high instances of migration and borders staff in the data, many Home Office level statistics are heavily influenced by the representation in this area. To allow a clearer picture of the diversity of the Home Office workforce, the representation rates have therefore been calculated at both the departmental and business area levels where possible.

The following sections report on the representation of Home Office staff by disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender.

Figure 1: Distribution of staff in the Home Office, by business area

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_1.1

Home Office grades are summarised below. They range in ascending order from the most junior staff at Administrative Assistant and Administrative Officer, through to Senior Civil Servants who hold greatest seniority.

Home Office grades, from least to most senior

• Administrative Assistant or Administrative Officer (AA or AO)
• Executive Officer (EO)
• Higher Executive Officer or Senior Executive Officer (HEO or SEO)
• Grade 7 (G7)
• Grade 6 (G6)
• Senior Civil Servant (SCS) includes SCS pay bands 1 to 4

2. Comparison to targets and population estimates

In 2018, the Home Office set out a series of representation targets for the department to achieve by 2025. These are set out in Table 1 and compared with the 2 most recent years (2021 and 2022).

These overall targets were based by setting them equal to either the UK economically active population or current Home Office representation, whichever was higher at the time of them being set. Since the original targets were produced the current UK population representation rates for some groups have changed, see Table 2.

The data provides a snapshot as at 31 March 2022. The data includes overseas and non-paid staff and the majority of the data has been self-reported by staff. Self-reporting of some personal characteristic data is voluntary, and therefore does not provide a complete picture of the diversity of the Home Office workforce.

When considering the representation rates listed for 2018, 2021 and 2022, particularly for SCS, the total population size in some of the groups may be relatively low. An increase or decrease of just a few individuals can have a noticeable affect on the percentages reported. It is expected that there will be some variation in the representation rates from year to year, with the overall trend being the important indicator of success.

Table 1: Progress against diversity targets

Characteristic	Grade	Target	2018	2021	2022
Ethnic minority
	All Staff	24%	24%	24%	24%
	SCS	12%	6%	7%	8%
Disability
	All Staff	12%	9%	9%	10%
	SCS	5%	3%	7%	9%
Women
	All Staff	52%	52%	52%	52%
	SCS	47%	39%	45%	45%
Lesbian, Gay and Bi1
	All Staff	6%	3%	4%	4%
	SCS	6%	5%	5%	5%

Note:

1. At the time of collecting this data, the Home Office’s human resources recording system only allowed staff to record themselves as either “Heterosexual / Straight” or “LGB”. See definitions for further detail.

The representation rate presented in Table 1 is the proportion of people who reported having a specific characteristic (for example, identifying as female) as a proportion of all people who answered the question for that characteristic (for example, total of all people identified as Male or Female).

Table 2 provides some context to the representation rates with the latest estimates of the demographics for subgroups within the UK population:

Table 2: UK population diversity estimates

Characteristic3	Sub-division	Percent	Date1	Geography	Note
Ethnicity			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16-64
	White	80.7%
	Asian	10.1%
	Black	4.4%
	Mixed	2.5%
	Other	2.3%
Disability			Oct-Dec 2022	Great Britain	Economically active people aged 16-64
	Disabilities defined under Equality Act 2010	16.3%
Gender			2021	England and Wales	Females aged 16-64
	All women aged 16-64	50.8%
Sexual orientation2			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16-64
	Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Other	3.9%

Source: Census 2021, Labour Force Survey

Notes:

1. UK 2021 census information has been used for ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. Labour Force Survey 2022 information has been used for disability.

2. The higher target for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff set by the Home Office in 2018 was based on estimates created for the passage of civil partnership legislation. Since then, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published estimates from the 2021 census on sexual orientation in the UK which is used as the source for this table.

3. The Home Office employs people in all countries in the UK. Population estimates by ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation only refer to England and Wales. Disability population estimate refers only to Great Britain as the Equality Act 2010 does not apply to Northern Ireland.

2.1 Disability

Figure 2: Proportion of people with disabilities in the Senior Civil Service, 2021 and 2022

The proportion of people with disabilities at SCS level has increased by 2.4 percentage points, from 6.7% in 2021 to 9.1% in 2022.

Figure 3: Proportion of people with disabilities, all staff, 2021 and 2022

The proportion of people with disabilities amongst all staff has increased by 1.6 percentage points from last year, from 8.9% to 10.5%. According to Labour Market Survey estimates, 16.3% of the economically active people aged 16 to 64 in Great Britain had disabilities defined under Equality Act 2010

2.2 Ethnicity

Figure 4: Proportion of people from an ethnic minority background in the Senior Civil Service, 2021 and 2022

In the SCS, representation of ethnic minority staff increased by 0.9 percentage points to 7.8% in 2022, from 6.9% in 2021.

Figure 5: Proportion of people from an ethnic minority background, all staff, 2021 and 2022

The proportion of ethnic minority staff was 24% in 2021 and 2022.

2.3 Sexual Orientation

Figure 6: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2021 and 2022

Representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) staff in the SCS has decreased by 0.3 percentage points, from 5.4% in 2021 to 5.1% in 2022.

Figure 7: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual people, all staff, 2021 and 2022

Representation of LGB staff has remained fairly constant amongst all staff, at 4.0% in 2021 and 4.2% 2022.

2.4 Gender

Figure 8: Proportion of female staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2021 and 2022

The proportion of female staff in the SCS has remained similar in 2022, compared to 2021 (45%).

Figure 9: Proportion of female staff, all grades, 2021 and 2022

In March 2022, the proportion of female staff was 52%, which was similar to March 2021.

3. Analysis of Protected Characteristics

In this section, representation of protected characteristics has been analysed in more detail, including analysis by grade and business area where possible.

3.1 Age

Figure 10: Proportion of staff by age and grade

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_2

Note:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.

The most represented age group at SCS is 40 to 49 year olds, with 46% of staff in this age group as at March 2022.

In March 2022, the proportion of 16 to 29 year olds was highest at AA and AO grades (20%), and lowest among G6 staff (1.6%, excluding SCS as fewer than 10 individuals).

Figure 11: Proportion of staff by age and business area

In March 2022, for the homeland security and public safety areas, the most represented age group was 30 to 39 year olds, at 31% for both business areas. For corporate and support roles, the most represented age groups were 40 to 49 year olds, (25%), 30 to 39 year olds (24%) and 50 to 59 year olds, (24%). For staff working in the migration and borders teams, the most represented age group was 50 to 59 year olds (28%).

3.2 Disability

Figure 12: Proportion of staff with disabilities, by grade and business area

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_3

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.
2. In 2022, 19% of staff records had unknown disability status reported.

As at March 2022, the proportion of staff with disabilities in the SCS increased to 9.1% from 6.7% in 2021. The number of individuals with a disability at SCS in each area was too small to be reported individually.

Around 1-in-10 (10%) of all Home Office staff had a disability, as at March 2022.

Representation of people with a disability tends to be negatively correlated to grade, with 12% representation at AA/AO grades, reducing to 9.1% at SCS level.

Representation of people with disabilities was highest in the public safety area, with 12% of all public safety staff reporting as having a disability.

3.3 Ethnicity

Figure 13: Proportion of staff from an ethnic minority background, by grade and business area

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_4

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.
2. In 2022 17% of staff records had unknown ethnicity.

As of March 2022, 24% of Home Office staff were from an ethnic minority background. According to the 2021 Census, people from Black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic groups made up 19.3% of the working age population in England and Wales.

Representation of staff from an ethnic minority background is negatively correlated to grade, representation tends to be lower at higher grades. As at March 2022, 7.8% of SCS staff were from an ethnic minority background.

Almost a third (31%) of staff working in public safety roles in the Home Office were from an ethnic minority background. The next highest representation was in the corporate and support function, with 29% for March 2022.

Figure 14: Proportion of staff reporting their ethnicity

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_5

Note:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.

Staff from a White background made up the largest group by ethnicity (76%), followed by staff from an Asian or Asian British background (15%). Staff working in public safety roles had the largest proportion of Asian or Asian British staff, with 19% across all staff in March 2022.

3.4 Religion and Belief

Figure 15: Proportion of staff reporting religion and beliefs across all of the Home Office

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_7

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.
2. Buddhist and Jewish staff accounted for 0.3% and 0.2% of all staff respectively, which cannot be seen on the chart.
3. Around 12% did not report their religion or belief.

Christian or ‘No religion’ were reported by the majority of staff across all grades. In all cases, the next most popular responses were ‘Other religion or belief’ or Muslim.

The proportion of people reporting ‘No religion’ increased with the seniority of the grade, ranging from 30% at AA/AO to 48% at SCS level. The most reported religion or belief at SCS was ‘No religion’.

For AA/AO, EO, HEO/SEO grades and Grade 7 staff, the most frequently reported religion or belief was Christian.

3.5 Sexual Orientation

Figure 16: Proportion of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) staff, by grade and business area

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_8

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.
2. In 2022, 23% of staff records had unknown sexual orientation.

Over 6% of staff working in homeland security and public safety roles were LGB, as at March 2022 (7.0% and 6.4% respectively). This has increased from 2021.

As at March 2022, 5.1% of SCS staff were LGB. The numbers in each area were too low to be reported individually. Representation of LGB staff has decreased slightly for the SCS grades, down from 5.4% in 2021.

Across all staff, 4.2% were LGB.

3.6 Gender

Figure 17: Proportion of female staff, by grade and business area

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22, Table_6

Note:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed.

Over half (52%) of Home Office staff were female, as at March 2022.

As at March 2022, 45% of SCS staff were women. Over half (54%) of SCS staff working in public safety roles were female, the highest of all business areas. Female staff were least represented at SCS grade in the corporate and support area, where 42% of SCS staff were female in March 2022, down from 50% in March 2021.

There was a higher proportion of female staff at the most junior grades, with 58% of AA/AO staff being female. However, at grades EO (51%), HEO/SEO (51%), Grade 7 (48%) and Grade 6 (47%), representation was lower.

4. Working location of staff

In this section the geography of the Home Office workforce is analysed. This is using the building location of employment within each geographic region of the UK.

Figure 18: Proportion of staff in different regions of the UK , as at March 2022

Source: Home Office Workforce Diversity Statistics 2021/22

Over a third (38%) of Home Office staff were registered to a building in London. This was followed by the North West of England (20%), South East of England (11%) and Yorkshire and The Humber (11%).

Other areas of England: East of England (5.1%), North East (3.8%), West Midlands (3.1%), South West (1.1%), and East Midlands (0.7%).

Outside of England, staff working in Scotland made up 3.2% of the Home Office work force, followed by Wales (1.9%), Northern Ireland (1.6%) and Overseas (0.3%).

5. Data Sources

Data for this analysis was taken from the department’s ‘Metis’ system, which is the central system for human resources reporting.

The data provides a snapshot as at 31 March 2022. The data includes overseas and non-paid staff and the majority of the data has been self-reported by staff. Self-reporting is voluntary, and therefore does not provide a complete picture of the diversity of the Home Office workforce, as some staff do choose to withhold information through the “Prefer Not To Say” response. Others may not have been surveyed, so no data are available for these individuals, this is particularly true of overseas staff for whom the department only holds information regarding gender. There may also be individuals who misreport, either through accident or design. While this is considered unlikely to be widespread, where percentages are very low, a small number of individuals would have noticeable effects on the results.

The department continues to explore how to improve its declaration rates, for example by making improvements to the categories an individual can self-define as, as well as consistent messaging on why data is needed, what it is used for, reassurance on data security, how data it is stored and anonymity protection.

5.1 SCS data

Data for SCS in the department is taken from the ‘Metis’ system. This is different to the data used in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard, which uses the Cabinet Office SCS database. Therefore, representation rates calculated here may differ from those calculated using alternative data sources.

6. Methodology

Representation rates have been calculated by excluding individuals with unknown characteristics. These include, not being surveyed or responding with “Prefer Not to Say”. In 2022 the percentage of staff with unknown characteristics are 23% for sexual orientation, 19% for disability, 17% for ethnicity, 12% for religion and 0.08% for geography.

The representation rate is then the proportion of people identified as having a specific characteristic (for example, Female) as a proportion of all people with an identified characteristic (for example, total of all people identified as Male or Female).

In the analysis of representation, where the number of individuals with a characteristic is fewer than 10, the value has been removed and marked with an asterisk *. Fewer than 10 individuals indicate that either representation is very close to 0% or that the population of people with a disclosed characteristic (for example, Ethnicity, Age, Gender) is so small that representation rates are heavily influenced by individual people and do not provide a reliable narrative of the bigger picture.

6.1 Rounding

Data may be rounded to simplify the presentation of the figures. However, all numeric and percentage calculations are based on unrounded data. Where data are rounded, they may not add up to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100%, because they have been rounded independently.

The rounding conventions used in the release, unless otherwise stated, are as follows:

• 10,000 to 999,999 - rounded to the nearest thousand for example, 343,465 = 343,000
• 1,000 to 9,999 - rounded to the nearest hundred for example, 8,465 = 8,500
• 10 to 999 - rounded to the nearest ten for example, 47 = 50
• less than 10 - unrounded, whole numbers
• percentages greater than 10% - rounded to the nearest percent for example, 10.6% = 11%
• percentages between 1% and 10% - rounded to the nearest .1 percent for example, 1.43% = 1.4%
• percentages less than 1% - rounded to one significant figure for example, 0.43% = 0.4%, and 0.043% = 0.04%

All percentages in the data tables are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

7. Definitions

7.1 Business Areas

Home Office teams, units and directorates are grouped into 4 areas for the purposes of these statistics according to their broad area of work.

7.1.1 Migration and borders

Staff in this area includes those working in:

• the operational areas of UK Visas and Immigration
• Border Force
• Immigration Enforcement
• His Majesty’s Passport Office
• the policy area of Migration and Borders Policy

Migration and Borders Policy makes up around 2.4% of the migration and borders group. The migration and borders group is equivalent to the Borders Immigration and Citizenship System (BICS) grouping found in last year’s Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2020 to 2021.

7.1.2 Homeland security

Staff in this area work to counter threats from terrorism. This is equivalent to the National Security grouping found in last year’s statistics.

7.1.3 Public safety

This includes staff who support work on policing and fire and rescue services.

7.1.4 Corporate and support

This includes staff that support other functions through a variety of means, including analysis, private office, HR, and IT. This is equivalent to the Enablers grouping found in last year’s statistics.

7.2 Disability

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as a physical or a mental condition which has a substantial and long-term effect on your ability to do normal day to day activities.

The Home Office Adelphi HR system asked staff the question “do you have a disability?”. The Equality Act definition was not provided, and therefore there may be some under-reporting.

7.3 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual (LGB)

The Home Office’s Adelphi system recorded people as either “Heterosexual / Straight” or “LGB” or “Prefer Not to Say”. In 2020 the department introduced a new HR record system called Metis, which replaces Adelphi. This provides a broader set of categories for sexual orientation. Currently the disclosure rates of these broader categories are too low to report in this publication. The department will review the reporting of the broader set of categories every year.

8. Data quality

8.1 Gender Identity

The department has recently introduced an option for staff to declare their gender identity on the HR record system (Metis). Currently the majority of responses have not assigned their gender identity and so it has not been included in this publication, the department will review the reporting of gender identity every year.

9. Further information

9.1 Forthcoming statistical releases

Forthcoming publications are pre-announced on the statistics release calendar.

9.2 Feedback and enquiries

Home Office responsible statistician: Amy Baxter

Press enquires: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7035 3535

The department is always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you have any issues accessing the information you require, or you think accessibility requirements are not being met, please contact the Home Office Diversity Team mailbox