Official Statistics

Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023

Published 22 February 2024

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 2023. 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, whilst increasing since 2021, there is still underrepresentation in both the Senior Civil Service (SCS) and in the pipeline to SCS for ethnic minority staff. The proportion of SCS with disabilities has increased by 4.0 percentage points in the last year (from 9.1% to 13.1%).

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

In March 2023, the Home Office employed over 43,000 people in a wide range of roles, across the UK and overseas, an increase of over 7,300 from March 2022. All business areas increased in size but the change was largely driven by an additional 6,800 staff employed in the Migration and borders operations business area.

For the purposes of this analysis, staff have been grouped according to the area of the Home Office they work in:

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

These groupings have changed compared with last year’s Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2021 to 2022. Migration and borders operations and Migration and borders policy were previously grouped under a Migration and borders grouping; however, these have now been separated to better reflect the type of work each area undertakes. Please see the definitions section for further information on groupings.

As shown in figure 1, most staff (79%) are employed in roles related to Migration and borders operations. This includes many operational staff such as Border Force officers, Immigration Enforcement, Passport officers and UKVI caseworkers. Staff working in the following areas account for much smaller proportions of the total workforce:

• Corporate and support (11%)
• Public safety (4%)
• Homeland security (3%)
• Migration and borders policy (2%)

As a result of the high proportion of Migration and borders operations staff in the data, the representation heavily influenced the department level statistics in this area. To allow a clearer picture of the diversity of the Home Office workforce, the representation rates have been calculated at both the departmental and business area levels where possible.

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

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

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

Business area	Percentage
Migration and borders operations	79%
Corporate and support	11%
Public safety	4%
Homeland security	3%
Migration and borders policy	2%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 1

Notes:

1. This table does not follow the rounding rules set out in the methodology section. This table rounds to the nearest whole number, please see the separate tables for one decimal place.

Grades

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 the 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, includes SCS pay bands 1 to 4

Figure 2 shows the proportion of grades in each area of the Home Office. Migration and borders operations is the largest part of the department and has a higher proportion of junior grades compared with the other business areas. This is due to the different type of work undertaken in Migration and borders operations (mostly operational staff) compared with the other areas of the Home Office (policy and support roles). EO was the most common grade for Migration and borders operations (47.5% - over 16,000 staff) followed by AA/AO (26.8% - over 9,000 staff), while for all other areas of the Home Office the most common grades were HEO/SEO.

Please see table 2 of the separate accompanying tables for further information on the number of staff at each grade.

Figure 2: Proportion of grades in each business area of the Home Office

Table 2: Proportion of grades in each business area of the Home Office

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Corporate and support	5.3%	12.2%	47.8%	23.8%	8.8%	2.2%
Homeland security	1.6%	17.4%	45.9%	24.3%	7.9%	2.8%
Migration and borders operations	26.8%	47.5%	21.3%	3.1%	1.0%	0.3%
Migration and borders policy	0.5%	5.4%	50.5%	29.5%	10.2%	4.0%
Public safety	3.7%	22.2%	36.9%	25.3%	8.9%	3.1%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 2

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 3, and compared with 2018, then with the 4 most recent years (2020 to 2023).

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 working age population representation rates for some groups have changed, see table 4 below.

The data provides a snapshot as at 31 March 2023. The data includes overseas and non-paid staff, and most 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 Home Office workforce diversity.

When considering the representation rates listed for 2018 to 2023, particularly for SCS, the total population size in some groups may be relatively low. An increase or decrease of just a few individuals can have a noticeable effect 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 3: Progress against diversity targets

Characteristic	Grade	Target	2018	2020	2021	2022	2023
Ethnic minority1
	All staff	24%	24%	23%	24%	24%	24%
	SCS	12%	6%	7%	7%	8%	10%
Disability
	All staff	12%	9%	9%	9%	11%	12%
	SCS	5%	3%	8%	7%	9%	13%
Women
	All staff	52%	52%	52%	52%	52%	52%
	SCS	47%	39%	47%	45%	45%	48%
Lesbian, gay and bi2
	All staff	6%	3%	4%	4%	4%	5%
	SCS	6%	5%	5%	5%	5%	6%

Notes:

1. When the targets were set, this characteristic was referred to as ‘black, Asian and minority ethnic’. This wording in the release has been updated in line with the GOV.UK Style guide.
2. For data collected to 31 March 2022, Metis only allowed staff to record themselves as either ‘heterosexual / straight’ or ‘LGB’. For the year to 31 March 2023, a wider range of options were offered, grouped as ‘heterosexual / straight’, ‘LGB’ or ‘other’. Please see definitions for further detail.
3. For information on representation rates please see methodology section.
4. This table does not follow the rounding rules and is rounded to the nearest whole number.

The representation rate presented in table 3 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 4 provides some context to the representation rates with the latest estimates of the demographics for subgroups within the population:

Table 4: Population diversity estimates

Characteristic	Sub-division	Percent	Date1	Geography2	Note
Ethnicity			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16 to 64
	Asian	10.1%
	Black	4.4%
	Mixed	2.5%
	White	80.7%
	Other	2.3%
Disability			2021	England and Wales	Economically active people aged 16 to 64
	Disabilities defined under Equality Act 2010	9.7%
Women			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16 to 64
	All women aged 16 to 64	50.8%
Sexual orientation3			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16 to 64
	Lesbian, gay, bisexual or other (LGB+)	3.9%

Source: Census 2021

Notes:

1. These figures come from calculations made on the 2021 Census. This census was conducted in March 2021, while COVID-19 restrictions were in place, and this might also have affected the geographical distribution of respondents.
2. The Home Office employs people in all countries in the UK. Population estimates only refer to England and Wales.
3. The higher target for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) 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) has published estimates from the 2021 Census on sexual orientation which is used as the source for this table. However the LGBT+ population is likely to be larger, please see ‘2021 census: What do we know about the LGBT+ population?’ for reasons why.

2.1 Disability

Figure 3: Proportion of people with disabilities in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 5: Proportion of people with disabilities in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of SCS with disabilities
2020	7.7%
2021	6.7%
2022	9.1%
2023	13.1%
2025 Target	5.0%

The proportion of people with disabilities at SCS level has increased by 4 percentage points from last year.

Figure 4: Proportion of people with disabilities, all staff, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 6: Proportion of people with disabilities, all staff, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of staff with disabilities
2020	8.8%
2021	8.9%
2022	10.5%
2023	11.6%
2025 Target	12.0%

The proportion of people with disabilities amongst all staff has increased from 10.5% in 2022 to 11.6% in 2023, and has increased every year since this publication began in 2020.

2.2 Ethnicity

Figure 5: Proportion of people from an ethnic minority background in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 7: Proportion of people from an ethnic minority background in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of SCS from an ethnic minority background
2020	7.4%
2021	6.9%
2022	7.8%
2023	9.8%
2025 Target	12.0%

Notes:

1. This table follows the rounding rules set out in the methodology section. Please see the published data tables for further data.

In the SCS, representation of ethnic minority staff increased by 2 percentage points in the past year, from 7.8% to 9.8%.

Figure 6: Proportion of people from an ethnic minority background, all staff, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 8: Proportion of people from an ethnic minority background, all staff, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of staff from an ethnic minority background
2020	23.3%
2021	23.9%
2022	23.9%
2023	23.9%
2025 Target	24.0%

The proportion of ethnic minority staff has remained at 23.9% since 2021.

2.3 Sexual orientation

Figure 7: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 9: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of LGB SCS
2020	5.1%
2021	5.4%
2022	5.1%
2023	5.5%
2025 Target	6.0%

Representation of LGB staff in the SCS has increased by 0.4 percentage points in the past year, from 5.1% to 5.5%. It is still below the all-staff target of 6%.

Figure 8: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual people, all staff, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 10: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff, all staff, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of LGB staff
2020	3.7%
2021	4.0%
2022	4.2%
2023	4.5%
2025 Target	6.0%

Representation of LGB staff across all grades has increased by 0.3 percentage points in the past year, from 4.2% to 4.5%. This has increased every year since reporting began in 2020. It is still below the all-staff target of 6%.

2.4 Gender

Figure 9: Proportion of female staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 11: Proportion of female staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of female SCS staff
2020	47.0%
2021	45.1%
2022	45.1%
2023	48.1%
2025 Target	47.0%

The proportion of female staff in the SCS has increased from 45.1% in 2022 to 48.1% in 2023, passing the target of 47% female representation in the SCS.

Figure 10: Proportion of female staff, all grades, 2020 to 2023

Notes:

1. The dashed line represents the 2025 target – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Table 12: Proportion of female staff, all grades, 2020 to 2023

Year	Percentage of female staff
2020	52.1%
2021	52.4%
2022	52.2%
2023	52.1%
2025 Target	52.0%

The proportion of female staff has remained around 52% every year. The all-staff target was 52%.

3. Analysis of protected characteristics

This section analyses representation of protected characteristics in more detail, including analysis by grade and business area where possible.

3.1 Age

Figure 11: Proportion of staff by age and grade

Table 13: Proportion of staff by age and grade

Age	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
16 to 29	26.5%	19.2%	15.4%	9.6%	1.3%	~
30 to 39	19.5%	24.2%	26.0%	28.4%	24.5%	12.5%
40 to 49	19.1%	22.5%	27.9%	31.5%	38.1%	44.9%
50 to 59	20.9%	25.3%	24.9%	25.6%	30.1%	35.1%
60 to 64	9.3%	6.7%	4.7%	3.9%	5.2%	7.0%
65 and over	4.7%	2.1%	1.2%	1.0%	~	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 3.1

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed from both figure 11 and table 13.

The most represented age group at SCS is 40 to 49 year-olds, with 44.9% of staff in this age group in March 2023.

In March 2023, the proportion of 16 to 29 year-olds was highest at AA and AO grades (26.5%) and lowest among G6 staff (1.3%, excluding SCS as fewer than 10 individuals).

Figure 12: Proportion of staff by age and business area

Table 14: Proportion of staff by age and business area

Business area	16 to 29	30 to 39	40 to 49	50 to 59	60 to 64	65 and over
Migration and borders operations	17.7%	22.9%	24.5%	25.4%	7.1%	2.5%
Public safety	21.0%	32.3%	23.4%	18.0%	4.2%	1.1%
Homeland security	29.4%	32.8%	18.6%	15.8%	2.5%	0.8%
Corporate and support	19.0%	24.3%	25.5%	24.0%	5.2%	2.0%
Migration and borders policy	18.2%	30.1%	29.8%	19.0%	2.4%	~

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed from both figure 12 and table 14.

In March 2023, the 30 to 39 year-olds were the most represented age group for the Homeland security (32.8%) and Public safety (32.3%) areas. For the Migration and borders operations business area, the most represented age groups were 50 to 59 year-olds and 40 to 49 year-olds (25.4% and 24.5% respectively). For the Corporate and support area, the most represented age group were the 40 to 49 year-olds (25.5%), closely followed by 30 to 39 and 50 to 59 year-olds (24.3% and 24.0% respectively). The most represented age groups across Migration and borders policy were 30 to 39 year-olds (30.1%) and 40 to 49 year-olds (29.8%).

3.2 Disability

Figure 13: Proportion of staff with disabilities, by grade and business area

Table 15: Proportion of staff with disabilities, by grade and business area

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Home Office	14.2%	11.2%	10.8%	10.9%	10.3%	13.1%
Migration and borders operations	14.1%	10.9%	10.2%	10.2%	9.9%	11.4%
Public safety	35.3%	20.2%	13.6%	12.1%	10.2%	~
Homeland security	~	12.3%	9.7%	10.1%	~	~
Corporate and support	11.1%	14.7%	11.6%	11.1%	11.3%	16.1%
Migration and borders policy	~	~	14.8%	12.4%	~	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 4.1

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed from both figure 13 and table 15.
2. The dashed line in figure 12 represents the 2025 target of 12% – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.
3. In 2023, 35% of staff records had unknown disability status reported (March 2022: 19%).

The proportion of staff with disabilities in the SCS increased from 9.1% in March 2022, to 13.1% in March 2023. In March 2023, 16.1% of staff at SCS level in the Corporate and support area, reported having a disability, compared with 10.6% in March 2022. For the Migration and borders operations area, 11.4% of SCS staff reported having a disability in March 2023. The numbers of individuals with a disability at SCS level, in the Homeland security and Public safety areas, were too small to be reported individually, for March 2022 and March 2023.

Representation of people with a disability was highest at AA/AO grades, with 14.2% across business areas for March 2023, an increase of 2.1 percentage points since March 2022, (12.1%).

Representation of people with disabilities was highest in the Public safety area, with 14.4% of all Public safety staff reporting as having a disability in March 2023.

Public safety staff at AA/AO grades had a particularly high representation from people with disabilities, at 35.3% for March 2023, (25% in March 2022).

3.3 Ethnicity

Figure 14: Proportion of staff from an ethnic minority background, by grade and business area

Table 16: Proportion of staff from an ethnic minority background, by grade and business area

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Home Office	26.9%	24.3%	24.2%	19.5%	12.4%	9.8%
Migration and borders operations	26.1%	23.2%	20.4%	14.9%	7.6%	~
Public safety	37.8%	36.4%	38.1%	24.6%	15.6%	~
Homeland security	~	38.7%	26.2%	18.7%	~	~
Corporate and support	43.6%	40.9%	32.7%	22.9%	15.0%	12.1%
Migration and borders policy	~	45.9%	28.6%	18.3%	14.8%	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 5.1

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed from both figure 14 and table 16.
2. The dashed line in figure 13 represents the 2025 target of 24% – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.
3. In 2023, 28% of staff records had unknown ethnicity (March 2022: 17%).

In March 2023, 23.9% of Home Office staff were from an ethnic minority background, the same as March 2022. 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 negatively correlated to grade, and representation tended to be lower at higher grades. In March 2023, 9.8% of SCS staff were from an ethnic minority background compared with 26.9% for AA/AO (March 2022: SCS, 8.8%; AA/AO, 26.0%).

Almost a third of staff working in Public safety roles in the Home Office were from an ethnic minority background, with 30.7% as at March 2023. The next highest representation was in the Corporate and support function, with 29.6% for March 2023.

Figure 15: Proportion of staff reporting their ethnicity

Table 17: Proportion of staff reporting their ethnicity

Ethnicity	Percentage
Asian or Asian British	14.8%
Black or black British	5.9%
Chinese or other ethnic group	0.8%
Mixed	2.4%
White	76.1%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 6.1

Staff from a white background made up the largest group by ethnicity (76.1%), followed by staff from an Asian or Asian British background (14.8%).

Staff working in Public safety roles had the largest proportion of Asian or Asian British staff, with 18.3% across all grades in March 2023 (March 2022: 19.0%).

Staff working in Corporate and support had the highest proportion of black or black British staff at 8.4%, followed by Public safety at 8.0%.

3.4 Religion and belief

Figure 16: Proportion of staff reporting religion and beliefs across all of the Home Office

Table 18: Proportion of staff reporting religion and beliefs across all of the Home Office

Religion	Percentage
Buddhist	0.4%
Christian	42.3%
Hindu	3.3%
Jewish	0.2%
Muslim	7.0%
Sikh	2.4%
Other	10.9%
No religion	33.5%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 8.1

Notes:

1. In March 2023, Buddhist and Jewish staff accounted for 0.4% and 0.2% of all staff, respectively, which cannot be seen on the chart.
2. In March 2023, 25% did not report their religion or belief (March 2022: 12%).

Christian (42.3%) or ‘No religion’ (33.5%) were the most common religious groups across all staff in the Home Office. In all cases, the next most popular responses were ‘Other religion or belief’ (10.9%) and then Muslim (7.0%).

The proportion of people reporting ‘No religion’ increased with the seniority of the grade. In March 2023, this ranged from 29.9% at AA/AO, through to 46.5% at SCS level. The most reported religion or belief at Grade 6 and SCS level was ‘No religion’, in both 2022 and 2023.

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

Table 19: Proportion of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) staff, by grade and business area

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Home Office	3.6%	4.3%	4.7%	5.7%	5.2%	5.5%
Migration and borders operations	3.7%	4.3%	4.0%	5.5%	4.3%	~
Public safety	~	5.2%	6.8%	7.0%	~	~
Homeland security	~	~	6.7%	7.4%	~	~
Corporate and support	~	4.8%	6.0%	5.0%	6.4%	~
Migration and borders policy	~	~	7.0%	4.9%	~	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 9.1

Notes:

1. Categories with fewer than 10 individuals have been removed from both figure 17 and table 19.
2. The dashed line in figure 16 represents the 2025 target of 6% – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.
3. In 2023, 33% of staff records had unknown sexual orientation (March 2022: 23%).

The policy areas (Homeland security, Public safety and Migration and borders policy) all had the highest level of LGB staff between 6.0% and 6.1% each.

In March 2023, 5.5% of SCS staff were LGB, a 0.4 percentage point increase from March 2022 (5.1%). The numbers in each area were too low to be reported individually.

Across all staff, 4.5% were LGB in March 2023, a 0.3 percentage point increase from March 2022 (4.2%).

3.6 Gender

Figure 18: Proportion of female staff, by grade and business area

Table 20: Proportion of female staff, by grade and business area

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Home Office	59.2%	49.3%	52.3%	47.4%	47.6%	48.1%
Migration and borders operations	59.8%	48.7%	51.2%	48.8%	46.2%	41.3%
Public safety	55.1%	61.2%	59.7%	50.9%	46.1%	59.3%
Homeland security	55.0%	54.2%	55.3%	47.1%	53.6%	50.0%
Corporate and support	39.1%	52.4%	51.3%	43.0%	46.8%	44.2%
Migration and borders policy	~	66.0%	59.4%	53.6%	52.0%	59.0%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 7.1

Notes:

1. The dashed line in figure 17 represents the 2025 target of 52% – see section 2 ‘Comparison to targets and population’ for more information.

Over half (52.1%) of Home Office staff were female, in March 2022, similar to 52.2% in March 2023.

In March 2023, 48.1% of SCS staff were women, a 3 percentage point increase from March 2022 (45.1%). Over half of SCS staff working in Public safety (59.3%) and Migration and borders policy (59.0%) roles were female in March 2023. This was the highest proportion of all business areas. In March 2023, the proportion of female staff at SCS grade for the other business areas ranged from 41.3% in Migration and borders operations to 50.0% in Homeland security.

There was a higher proportion of female staff at the most junior grades, with 59.2% of AA/AO staff being female in March 2023. However, representation was lower at grades EO (49.3%), HEO/SEO (52.3%), Grade 7 (47.4%) and Grade 6 (47.6%) for March 2023.

4. Working location of staff

This section analyses the geography of the Home Office workforce using the building location of employment within each geographic region of the UK.

Figure 19: Proportion of staff in different regions of the UK, March 2023

Table 21: Proportion of staff in different regions of the UK, March 2023

Region	Percentage
London	34.5%
North West (England)	21.6%
Yorkshire and The Humber	11.3%
South East (England)	10.6%
East of England	4.9%
North East (England)	4.1%
Scotland	3.6%
West Midlands (England)	3.4%
Wales	2.1%
Northern Ireland	1.8%
South West (England)	1.1%
East Midlands (England)	0.7%
Overseas	0.4%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2022 to 2023; table 10

In March 2023, over a third (34.5%) of Home Office staff were registered to a building in London. This was followed by the North West of England (21.6%), Yorkshire and The Humber (11.3%) and the South East of England (10.6%). Outside of England, staff working in Scotland made up 3.6% of the Home Office workforce, followed by Wales (2.1%), Northern Ireland (1.8%) and Overseas (0.4%).

5. Data sources

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

The data provides a snapshot as at 31 March 2023. The data includes overseas and non-paid staff, and most of the data has been self-reported by staff. Self-reporting is voluntary and therefore does not provide a complete picture of Home Office workforce diversity, as some staff choose to withhold information through the ’Prefer not to say’ response. Others may not have been surveyed, so no data is 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 considered unlikely to be widespread, where percentages are very low, a few 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 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 March 2023, the percentages of staff with unknown characteristics were 33% for sexual orientation, 35% for disability, 28% for ethnicity, 25% for religion and 0.39% for geography, and 0.45% of staff grades were unknown. Please see separate data tables with every X.2 table (where X is the table number) providing response numbers.

The respective totals of unknown characteristics for March 2022 were 23% for sexual orientation, 19% for disability, 17% for ethnicity, 12% for religion and 0.08% for geography. Work is ongoing within the department to improve declaration rates. The decrease in 2023 is likely a result of the large number of new staff in the department.

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 was fewer than 10, the value has been removed and marked with a ~. 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. Less than 10 individuals have also been redacted to protect the anonymity of individual’s with characteristics in smaller groups.

Below each data table, the notes provide more information on any data which has been excluded from the calculations.

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 is rounded, it may not add up to the totals shown or, to 100% in the case of percentages, because it has been rounded independently.

Unless otherwise stated, all percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

Similarly, all percentages in the separate data tables are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

7. Definitions

7.1 Business areas

For the purposes of these statistics, Home Office teams, units and directorates are grouped into 5 areas according to their broad area of work.

7.1.1 Migration and borders operations

Staff in this area include those working in:

• the operational areas of UKVI
• Border Force
• Immigration Enforcement
• His Majesty’s Passport Office

This grouping has changed compared with last year’s Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2021 to 2022. Migration and borders operations and Migration and borders policy were previously grouped under a Migration and borders grouping; however, these have now been separated to better reflect the type of work each area undertakes. The data tables published for 2023 have recalculated the 2022 data using the new Migration and borders operations and Migration and borders policy groupings.

7.1.2 Homeland security

Staff in this area work to counter threats from terrorism.

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.

7.1.5 Migration and borders policy

This includes staff who support on the policy side of migration and borders related work. This was previously grouped with Migration and borders operations to make the Migration and borders business area grouping.

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 HR system before 2020 (Adelphi) asked staff the question “do you have a disability?” The Equality Act definition was not provided, so there may have been some under-reporting. The current system of Metis defines disability and then asks the question “do you have a disability?”.

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 to replace Adelphi. Metis 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.

The 2022 sexual orientation data was reported using the options of either ‘Heterosexual / Straight’ or ‘LGB’. For 2023, sexual orientation was reported using the options of either ‘Heterosexual / Straight’ , ‘LGB’ or ‘Other’. ‘Other’ includes those reporting as ‘Asexual’, ‘Pansexual’ or ‘Other’.

8. Data quality

8.1 Gender identity

The department has recently introduced an option for staff to declare their gender identity on Metis. Currently, the majority of staff have not declared their gender identity so this is not covered 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 on the GOV.UK website.

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 Statistical Transformation Team mailbox.