Official Statistics

Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2023 to 2024

Published 27 February 2025

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 2024. 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 increased compared with 2018, ethnic minority staff were underrepresented compared to national ONS population data in both the Senior Civil Service (SCS) and in the pipeline to SCS in the year ending March 2024. Representation of ethnic minority staff in the SCS decreased by 0.4 percentage points this year (from 9.8% to 9.4%). The data shows that the proportion of disabled staff has increased by 2.9 percentage points in the last year (from 11.5% to 14.4%), exceeding all-staff representation targets set in 2018 for the first time.

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 socio-economic, work experience and geographic backgrounds. The Home Office collects data on socio-economic 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. The declaration rate for socio-economic background data as at 31 March 2024 was 24.8%. This has increased from April 2021 when the declaration rate stood at 4.9%. Home Office headcount has grown over this time period, which has impacted the rate of increase of overall declaration.

In November 2024, changes were introduced to Metis, the central human resources reporting system for the department. These changes were designed to simplify and make the process to report diversity data quicker for staff. Simultaneously, the department started to use automated and targeted notifications to staff to encourage completion of their data declarations. These actions are aimed to improve the declaration rates for all diversity characteristics helping improve the department’s monitoring of diversity within the workforce.

1. Introduction

At the end of March 2024, the Home Office employed over 51,000 people in a wide range of roles, across the UK and overseas, an increase of over 7,800 from end of March 2023. 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:

• Corporate and support – includes staff that support other functions through a variety of means, including analysis, private offices, HR and IT
• Homeland security – staff in this area work to counter threats from terrorism
• 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 work on migration and borders policy
• Public safety – includes staff who support work on policing and fire and rescue services

As shown in Figure 1, most staff (81%) are employed in roles related to Migration and borders operations. This includes 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 (2%) and Migration and borders policy (2%). As a result of the high proportion of Migration and borders operations staff in the data, their representation heavily influences 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	81%
Corporate and support	11%
Public safety	4%
Homeland security	2%
Migration and borders policy	2%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, 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 numbers rounded to one decimal place.
2. Unspecified business areas are grouped into Corporate and support.

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 (49.4% - over 20,000 staff) followed by AA/AO (25.3% - over 10,000 staff), while for all other areas of the Home Office the most common grades were HEO/SEO.

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	4.6%	10.2%	49.4%	24.3%	9.4%	2.0%
Homeland security	1.8%	13.9%	49.2%	23.9%	8.4%	2.8%
Migration and borders operations	25.3%	49.4%	21.3%	2.9%	0.8%	0.3%
Migration and borders policy	0.7%	5.4%	51.1%	28.4%	10.9%	3.5%
Public safety	3.2%	27.7%	36.4%	21.5%	8.6%	2.7%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 2

Notes:

1. In 2024, 0.30% of staff grades were unknown. (March 2023: 0.45%).

2. Comparison with targets and population estimates

In 2018 the Home Office set out a series of representation targets for the department to achieve by 2025. These overall targets were set with reference to either the UK economically active population or current Home Office representation, whichever was higher at the time of them being set. In February 2024 the Home Office Annual reports and accounts (page 172) was published, which updated some of these targets to reflect the census 2021 economically active population in England and Wales. The new targets include increased targets for representation of women (48% from 47%), disabled people (12% from 5%), and people from minority ethnic backgrounds (15% from 12%) in the SCS. These targets are set out in Table 3, compared with representation in 2018, and then with the four most recent years, (2021 to 2024). Since the original targets were produced, the current working age population representation rates for some groups have changed, see Table 4.

The data provides a snapshot as at 31 March 2024. The data include overseas and non-paid staff, and most data have 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 2024, 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 to achieve by 2025	2018	2021	2022	2023	2024
Ethnic minority1
	All staff	24%	24%	24%	24%	24%	24%
	SCS	15%	6%	7%	8%	10%	9%
Disability
	All staff	12%	9%	9%	11%	12%	14%
	SCS	12%	3%	7%	9%	13%	13%
Women
	All staff	52%	52%	52%	52%	52%	52%
	SCS	48%	39%	45%	45%	48%	47%
Lesbian, gay and bi2
	All staff	6%	3%	4%	4%	5%	5%
	SCS	6%	5%	5%	5%	6%	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 and 2024, a wider range of options were offered, grouped as ‘heterosexual/straight’, ‘LGB’ and ‘LGB+’. 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, ethnicity), as a proportion of all people who answered the question for that characteristic, (for example, total of all people reporting their ethnicity).

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 16-64
	Asian	10.1%
	Black	4.4%
	Mixed	2.5%
	White	80.7%
	Other	2.3%
Disability			2021	England and Wales	Economically active people aged 16-64
	Disabilities defined under Equality Act 2010	9.7%
Women			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16-64
	All women aged 16-74	50.8%
Sexual orientation3			2021	England and Wales	People aged 16-64
	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 this ‘2021 census: What do we know about the LGBT+ population? for reasons why.

2.1 Disability

Figure 3: Proportion of disabled people in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Table 5: Proportion of disabled people in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of disabled SCS staff
2020	7.7%
2021	6.7%
2022	9.1%
2023	13.1%
2024	13.4%
2025 Target	12%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 3 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
2. Due to the small number of SCS in the Home Office (353 in March 2024), individuals can have a significant effect on percentage representation.
3. In 2024, 18% of SCS staff records had unknown disability status reported (March 2023: 18%).

The proportion of disabled people at SCS level has increased by 0.3 percentage points from last year, from 13.1% to 13.4%.

Figure 4: Proportion of disabled people, all staff, 2020 to 2024

Table 6: Proportion of disabled people, all staff, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of disabled staff
2020	8.8%
2021	8.9%
2022	10.5%
2023	11.5%
2024	14.4%
2025 Target	12%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 4 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
2. In 2024, 44% of staff records had unknown disability status reported (March 2023: 35%).
3. Data included in Figure 4 and Table 6 include unknown grades, this may differ from the separate accompanying tables by 0.1 percentage points or less, as the accompanying tables exclude unknown grades.

The proportion of disabled people amongst all staff has increased from 11.5% in 2023 to 14.4% in 2024, an increase of 2.9 percentage points. This figure has increased every year since this publication began in 2020. This is the first year the figure has exceeded the all-staff target of 12%.

2.2 Ethnicity

Figure 5: Proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Table 7: Proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of SCS from ethnic minority backgrounds
2020	7.4%
2021	6.9%
2022	7.8%
2023	9.8%
2024	9.4%
2025 Target	15%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 5 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
2. Due to the small number of SCS in the Home Office (353 in March 2024), individuals can have a significant effect on percentage representation.
3. In 2024, 10% of SCS staff records had unknown ethnicity (March 2023: 11%).

In the SCS, representation of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds decreased by 0.4 percentage points in the past year, from 9.8% to 9.4%.

Figure 6: Proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds, all staff, 2020 to 2024

Table 8: Proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds, all staff, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds
2020	23.3%
2021	23.9%
2022	23.9%
2023	23.9%
2024	24.1%
2025 Target	24%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 6 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
2. In 2024, 32% of staff records had unknown ethnicity (March 2023: 28%).
3. Data included in Figure 6 and Table 8 include unknown grades, this may differ from the separate accompanying tables by 0.1 percentage points or less, as the accompanying tables exclude unknown grades.

The proportion of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds has increased from 23.9% to 24.1% in the past year. This figure meets the all-staff target of 24%.

2.3 Sexual orientation

Figure 7: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Table 9: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of LGB SCS	Percentage of LGB~ SCS
2020	5.1%	~
2021	5.4%	~
2022	5.1%	~
2023	5.5%	5.5%
2024	5.9%	5.9%
2025 Target	6%	6%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 7 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
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 and 2024, a wider range of options were offered, grouped as ‘heterosexual/straight’, ‘LGB’ and ‘LGB+’. Please see Definitions for further detail.
3. Due to the small number of SCS in the Home Office (353 in March 2024), individuals can have a significant effect on percentage representation.
4. In 2024, 14% of SCS staff records had unknown sexual orientation (March 2023: 15%).

Representation of LGB staff in the SCS has increased by 0.4 percentage points in the past year, from 5.5% to 5.9%. The SCS target is 6%.

Figure 8: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual people, all staff, 2020 to 2024

Table 10: Proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual staff, all staff, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of LGB staff	Percentage of LGB~ staff
2020	3.7%	~
2021	4.0%	~
2022	4.2%	~
2023	4.5%	4.8%
2024	5.0%	5.5%
2025 Target	6%	6%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 8 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
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 and 2024, a wider range of options were offered, grouped as ‘heterosexual/straight’, ‘LGB’ and ‘LGB+’. Please see Definitions for further detail. The chart here therefore only includes staff reporting themselves as LGB (not ‘asexual’, ‘pansexual’ or ‘other’) in 2023 and 2024, to provide a comparable time series.
3. In 2024, 37% of staff records had unknown sexual orientation (March 2023: 33%).
4. Data included in Figure 8 and Table 10 include unknown grades, this may differ from the separate accompanying tables by 0.1 percentage points or less, as the accompanying tables exclude unknown grades.

Representation of LGB staff across all grades has increased by 0.5 percentage points in the past year, from 4.5% to 5.0%. This has increased every year since reporting began in 2020. It is below the all-staff target of 6%.

Representation of LGB+ staff across all grades has increased by 0.7 percentage points in the past year, from 4.8% to 5.5%. Data on LGB+ staff has only been available since 2023. Please see Definitions for further detail.

2.4 Gender

Figure 9: Proportion of female staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Table 11: Proportion of female staff in the Senior Civil Service, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of female SCS staff
2020	47.0%
2021	45.1%
2022	45.1%
2023	48.1%
2024	46.7%
2025 Target	48%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 9 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
2. Due to the small number of SCS in the Home Office (353 in March 2024), individuals can have a significant effect on percentage representation.

The proportion of female staff in the SCS has decreased from 48.1% in 2023 to 46.7% in 2024, below the target of 48% female representation in the SCS.

Figure 10: Proportion of female staff, all grades, 2020 to 2024

Table 12: Proportion of female staff, all grades, 2020 to 2024

Year	Percentage of female staff
2020	52.1%
2021	52.3%
2022	52.2%
2023	52.0%
2024	52.2%
2025 Target	52%

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 10 represents the 2025 target – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
2. Data included in Figure 10 and Table 12 include unknown grades, this may differ from the separate accompanying tables by 0.1 percentage points or less, as the accompanying tables exclude unknown grades.

The proportion of female staff has remained around 52% every year. The all-staff target is 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 at each grade, by age

Table 13: Proportion of staff at each grade, by age

Age	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
16-29	28.5%	21.3%	14.7%	7.8%	1.1%	~
30-39	20.1%	24.9%	27.2%	28.1%	20.7%	11.0%
40-49	18.1%	21.9%	27.5%	32.8%	39.8%	43.3%
50-59	19.3%	22.5%	23.5%	24.6%	29.4%	36.5%
60-64	8.5%	7.0%	5.6%	5.3%	7.8%	8.2%
65+	5.5%	2.4%	1.6%	1.3%	1.1%	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 3.1

Notes:

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

In March 2024, the proportion of 16 to 29 year olds was highest at AA and AO grades (28.5%) and lowest among G6 staff (1.1%, excluding SCS as fewer than 10 individuals).

The most represented age group at SCS is 40 to 49 year olds, with 43.3% of staff in this age group in March 2024.

Figure 12: Proportion of staff by age and business area

Table 14: Proportion of staff by age and business area

Business area	16-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-64	65+
Corporate and support	18.1%	24.4%	25.4%	23.0%	6.6%	2.5%
Homeland security	24.7%	36.4%	20.0%	15.1%	2.9%	1.0%
Migration and borders operations	19.5%	23.6%	23.7%	23.1%	7.2%	2.9%
Migration and borders policy	17.9%	30.0%	30.2%	17.6%	3.3%	1.0%
Public safety	18.7%	32.8%	24.6%	17.4%	5.2%	1.2%

Notes:

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

In March 2024, in the Homeland security and Public safety business areas, the most represented age group was 30 to 39 year olds (36.4% and 32.8% respectively). For the Migration and borders operations business area, the most represented age groups were 40 to 49 year olds and 30 to 39 year olds (23.7% and 23.6% respectively). For the Corporate and support area, the most represented age group were the 40 to 49 year olds (25.4%), closely followed by 30 to 39 year olds (24.4%). The most represented age groups across Migration and borders policy were 40 to 49 year olds (30.2%) and 30 to 39 year olds (30.0%).

3.2 Disability

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

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

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Home Office	18.4%	14.7%	13.1%	12.4%	12.0%	13.4%
Corporate and support	14.6%	17.5%	14.8%	13.0%	12.9%	17.0%
Homeland security	~	18.3%	13.5%	12.7%	11.8%	~
Migration and borders operations	18.5%	14.3%	12.4%	10.7%	8.8%	11.1%
Migration and borders policy	~	~	18.8%	13.8%	14.7%	~
Public safety	~	27.4%	14.0%	14.7%	13.9%	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, 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 13 represents the 2025 target of 12% – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
3. In 2024, 44% of staff records had unknown disability status reported (March 2023: 35%).

The proportion of disabled staff in the SCS increased from 13.1% in March 2023, to 13.4% in March 2024. In March 2024, 17.0% of staff at SCS level in the Corporate and support area reported having a disability, compared with 16.1% in March 2023. For the Migration and borders operations area, 11.1% of SCS staff reported having a disability in March 2024, compared with 11.4% in March 2023. The numbers of individuals with a disability at SCS level in the Homeland security, Migration and borders policy, and Public safety areas were too small to be reported individually, for March 2023 and March 2024.

Representation of disabled people was highest at AA/AO grades, with 18.4% across business areas for March 2024, an increase of 4.2 percentage points since March 2023 (14.2%).

Representation of disabled people was highest in the Public safety area, with 16.9% of all Public safety staff reporting as having a disability in March 2024, an increase of 2.5 percentage points since March 2023 (14.4%).

Public safety staff at EO grade had particularly high representation of disabled people, at 27.4% for March 2024 (20.2% in March 2023)

3.3 Ethnicity

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

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

Business area	AA/AO	EO	HEO/SEO	G7	G6	SCS
Home Office	27.8%	24.0%	24.7%	19.5%	14.4%	9.4%
Corporate and support	46.2%	41.1%	33.6%	23.6%	16.5%	11.1%
Homeland security	~	39.4%	26.1%	18.8%	12.6%	~
Migration and borders operations	27.1%	23.0%	21.2%	13.9%	11.0%	~
Migration and borders policy	~	55.6%	28.4%	19.7%	13.8%	~
Public safety	40.0%	34.8%	36.5%	24.5%	16.9%	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, 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 14 represents the 2025 target of 24% – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
3. In 2024, 32% of staff records had unknown ethnicity (March 2023: 28%).

At the end of March 2024, 24.1% of Home Office staff were from ethnic minority backgrounds, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from March 2023 (23.9%). 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 ethnic minority backgrounds tended to be lower at higher grades. In March 2024, 9.4% of SCS staff were from an ethnic minority background compared with 27.8% for AA/AO (March 2023: SCS, 9.8%; AA/AO, 26.9%).

At the end of March 2024, almost a third (30.3%) of staff working in Public safety roles in the Home Office were from ethnic minority backgrounds. The next highest representation was in the Corporate and support function, with 30.0% of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Figure 15: Breakdown of Home Office staff by ethnic group

Table 17: Breakdown of Home Office staff by ethnic group

Ethnicity	Percentage
Asian or Asian British	14.7%
Black or Black British	6.1%
Mixed	2.4%
Other ethnic group	0.9%
White	75.9%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 6.1

Note:

1. These groupings have changed compared with last year’s Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2022 to 2023. The ‘other ethnic group’ category was previously referred to as ‘Chinese or other ethnic group’ and included those from the Chinese ethnic group. Staff reporting themselves as being from the Chinese ethnic group are now consistently grouped into Asian or Asian British.

Staff from a White background made up the largest group by ethnicity (75.9%), followed by staff from an Asian or Asian British background (14.7%).

Staff working in Public safety roles had the largest proportion of Asian or Asian British staff, with 17.6% across all grades in March 2024 (March 2023: 18.3%).

Staff working in Corporate and support had the highest proportion of Black or Black British staff at 8.7%, followed by Public safety at 7.9%.

3.4 Religion and Belief

Figure 16: Breakdown of Home office staff by religion and belief

Table 18: Breakdown of Home office staff by religion and belief

Religion	Percentage
Buddhist	0.4%
Christian	41.5%
Hindu	3.2%
Jewish	0.3%
Muslim	7.4%
No religion	35.8%
Other	9.0%
Sikh	2.4%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 8.1

Notes:

1. In March 2024, Buddhist and Jewish staff accounted for 0.4% and 0.3% of all staff, respectively, which cannot be seen on the chart.
2. In March 2024, 29% did not report their religion or belief (March 2023: 25%).

Christian (41.5%) or ‘no religion’ (35.8%) were the most common religious groups across all staff in the Home Office. The next most popular responses were ‘other religion or belief’ (9.0%) and then Muslim (7.4%).

The proportion of people reporting ‘no religion’ increased with the seniority of the grade. In March 2024, this ranged from 32.5% at AA/AO, through to 47.0% at SCS level. The most reported religion or belief at Grade 7, Grade 6 and SCS was ‘no religion’ in 2024. Previously in 2023 ‘no religion’ was the most reported religion at Grade 6 and SCS, while Christian was the most reported religion at Grade 7.

For AA/AO, EO, and HEO/SEO grade 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	3.9%	5.0%	5.2%	6.0%	5.9%	5.9%
Corporate and support	~	4.1%	6.2%	4.6%	5.2%	10.4%
Homeland security	~	~	6.4%	8.8%	~	~
Migration and borders operations	4.0%	5.0%	4.7%	5.6%	5.9%	~
Migration and borders policy	~	~	6.7%	6.7%	~	~
Public safety	~	7.6%	6.6%	8.3%	~	~

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, 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 17 represents the 2025 target of 6% – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.
3. 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 and 2024, a wider range of options were offered, grouped as ‘heterosexual/straight’, ‘LGB’ and ‘LGB+’. Please see Definitions for further detail.
4. In 2024, 37% of staff records had unknown sexual orientation (March 2023: 33%).

Homeland security and Public safety had the joint highest level of LGB staff at 7.1% each.

In March 2024, 5.9% of SCS staff identified as LGB, a 0.4 percentage point increase from March 2023 (5.5%). Corporate and support was the only area with sufficient SCS staff to report individually, with LGB representation of 10.4%.

Representation of LGB staff tended to be lower among the most junior grades. In March 2024, 3.9% of AA/AO staff identified as LGB (March 2023: AA/AO, 3.6%), compared with 5.9% to 6% for G7, G6 and SCS staff.

Across all staff, 5.0% identified as LGB in March 2024, a 0.5 percentage point increase from March 2023 (4.5%). 5.5% of staff identified as LGB+ in March 2024, a 0.7 percentage point increase from March 2023 (4.8%). LGB+ representation by business area is available in the Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 9.2. Data on LGB+ staff has only been available since 2023. Please see Definitions for further detail.

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	58.9%	49.8%	52.6%	48.2%	47.7%	46.7%
Corporate and support	42.2%	55.1%	49.2%	45.1%	45.1%	45.0%
Homeland security	63.6%	50.9%	56.8%	50.5%	57.3%	42.9%
Migration and borders operations	59.4%	49.2%	52.3%	49.2%	47.1%	41.4%
Migration and borders policy	~	70.2%	58.7%	53.0%	53.5%	56.8%
Public safety	54.5%	62.3%	61.9%	50.3%	47.2%	57.1%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 7.1

Notes:

1. The dashed line in Figure 18 represents the 2025 target of 52% – see Section 2 ‘Comparison with targets and population’ for more information.

Over half (52.2%) of Home Office staff were female, in March 2024, similar to 52.0% in March 2023.

In March 2024, 46.7% of SCS staff were female, a 1.4 percentage point decrease from March 2023 (48.1%). Over half of SCS staff working in Public safety (57.1%) and Migration and borders policy (56.8%) roles were female in March 2024. 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 41.4% in Migration and borders operations to 45.0% in Corporate and support.

There was a higher proportion of female staff at the most junior grades, with 58.9% of AA/AO staff being female in March 2024. However, representation was lower at grades EO (49.8%), HEO/SEO (52.6%), Grade 7 (48.2%) and Grade 6 (47.7%) for March 2024.

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 2024

Table 21: Proportion of staff in different regions of the UK, March 2024

Region	Percentage
London	31.9%
North West (England)	22.5%
Yorkshire and the Humber	11.9%
South East (England)	10.6%
West Midlands (England)	4.9%
East of England	4.3%
North East (England)	4.1%
Scotland	3.6%
Wales	2.1%
Northern Ireland	1.9%
South West (England)	1.1%
East Midlands (England)	0.6%
Overseas	0.4%

Source: Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2023/24, Table 10

Notes:

1. In 2024, 0.37% of staff recorded an unspecified workplace location (March 2023: 0.39%).

In March 2024, almost a third (31.9%) of Home Office staff were registered to a building in London. This was followed by the North West of England (22.5%), Yorkshire and the Humber (11.9%) 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 (1.9%) and overseas (0.4%).

The biggest increase in geographic representation was in the West Midlands with 4.9% of staff registered to a building in the region in March 2024, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from March 2023 (3.4%). This was followed by the North West , increasing to 22.5%, a 0.9 percentage point increase from March 2023 (21.6%). The biggest decrease in geographic representation was for staff registered to a building in London, which decreased by 2.6 percentage points in March 2024 (31.9%), from 34.5% in March 2023.

5. Data sources

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

The data provide a snapshot as at 31 March 2024. The data include 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 they are used for, reassurance on data security, how data is stored and anonymity protection.

5.1 SCS data

Data for SCS in the department are 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 2024, the percentages of staff with unknown characteristics were 37% for sexual orientation, 44% for disability, 32% for ethnicity, 29% for religion, 0.37% for geography, and 0.30% 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 2023 were 33% for sexual orientation, 35% for disability, 28% for ethnicity, 25% for religion, 0.39% for geography, and 0.45% of staff grades were unknown. Work is ongoing within the department to improve declaration rates. The decrease in 2024 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 have 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 2022’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.

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 Ethnicity

The Home Office’s Metis system allows staff to identify as 19 distinct ethnic groups, which are grouped together into the following categories for reporting in this publication:

• Asian or Asian British
• Black or Black British
• Mixed
• Other ethnic group
• White

These groupings have changed compared with last year’s Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2022 to 2023. The ‘other ethnic group’ category was previously referred to as ‘Chinese or other ethnic group’ and included those from the Chinese ethnic group. Staff from the Chinese ethnic group are now grouped into Asian or Asian British.

7.4 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 2023 sexual orientation data was reported using the options of either ‘heterosexual/straight’, ‘LGB’ or ‘other’. For 2024, a new category ‘LGB+’ has been included, which combines the ‘LGB’ and ‘other’ options used in 2023. ‘LGB+’ includes those reporting as LGB (‘gay man’, ‘gay woman/lesbian’ and ‘bisexual’) as well as ‘asexual’, ‘pansexual’ or ‘other’.

Unless otherwise stated, figures and tables show representation rates for the LGB group to keep consistency with previous publications. Representation rates of LGB+ staff are included where relevant to add further context.

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. 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 enquiries: 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.