Government at a Glance 2017

Country Fact Sheetwww.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Government employment decreased the most in the United Kingdom among OECDmember countries between 2007 and 2015

General government employment as a percentage of total employment in the United Kingdom decreased from 19.2% to 16.4% between 2007 and 2015. Looking at trends in general government employment alone, it has declined by 9% over this period, with a peak reduction of 4.7% between 2011 and 2012.

Chapter 3. Public employment and pay

Employment in general government as a percentage of total employmentAnnual growth rate of government employment

The United Kingdom places great emphasis on evidence-based policy making

A dual-stage impact assessment provides for a comparison of different policy options and a more detailed analysis of the costs, benefits and other impacts of the preferred option. Stakeholders are invited to com-ment on the evidence and assumptions supporting the analysis. The quality of impact assessments is en-sured through strong institutional oversight by the Regulatory Policy Committee.

Chapter 8. Regulatory governance

Regulatory Impact Assessment for developing regulationsStakeholder engagement in developing regulations

The United Kingdom has a sound open government data strategy

According to the OECD OURdata index, the United Kingdom has one the broadest standards on open gov-ernment data among OECD countries, with the fourth-highest score in data availability, accessibility and support for private sector re-use of government data.

Chapter 10. Open government

Open-Useful-Reusable Government Data Index (OURdata)

United Kingdom

Fiscal balance*(2015, 2016)

Government expenditures(2015, 2016)

Government gross debt*(2015, 2016)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts

G@G /dataG@G /data

26134,500

88,70052,700

Middle Managers(D3 positions)

Senior Managers(D1 positions)

SeniorProfessionals

SecretarialPositions

2015USD PPP

150,000

300,000

450,000

231,500

40,600

United Kingdom

70,300

145,800

276,800

Annual compensation across central government positions* (2015)

Government investment(2015, 2016)

How to read the figures:

U.K.

Country value in blue (not represented if not available)

Average of OECD countries in red

Range of OECD country values in grey

Public Finance and Economics

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

24.9%22.1%

United Kingdom

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

2015

40.9%

42.1%2016

42.9%2015

United Kingdom

2015

3.2%

2.4%2016

2.6%2015

0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

United Kingdom

112.6%2015

123.1% 100%

0%

2016

112%100%

0%

2015

0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

U.K.

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not available

% of GDP

Public Employment

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

* See Notes Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the compensation of employees in central / federal governments

... and in senior positions (2015)

Source: OECD* See Notes National Accounts

Source: OECD* SNA definition, see Notes National Accounts

Public Sector Compensation

53.0%54.2%U.K.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

32.4%36.8%U.K.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Women in the civil service ...

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or older

(2015)

General government employmentas % of total employment (2015)

18.1%

16.4%United Kingdom

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Source: OECD National Accounts

-10% 0%-5% +5% +10%

-2.8%

U.K.2016

-3.0% -4.3%

2015

2015

Budgeting

Women in Government

Extent of delegationof HRM practicesin line ministries

0.67

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

assessmentsin HR decisions

0.86

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

related pay

0.80

0.66

Use of separateHRM practices

for seniorcivil servants

0.95

0.55

Collectionof administrative

data

0.73 0.68

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

United Kingdom

G@G /data

Source: OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey

Composite indicators on HRM practices in central government (2016)

Human Resource Management

Composite indices on regulatory governance for primary laws*(2014)

G@G /data

Regulatory governance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

29.1%

50%

32.0%

United Kingdom

Source: OECD National Accounts

General governmentprocurement expenditures

(2015)% of government expenditures

Public Procurement

Support for greenpublic procurement

Some procuring entities have developed an internal strategy/policy

A strategy/policy has been developed at a central level

Support forSMEs

Support for innovativegoods and services

A strategy/policy has been rescinded

There has never been a strategy/policy in place

11 25 1 0 8 24 0 1 9 19 0 6

United Kingdom

Strategic public procurement - Objectives(2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on Public Procurement

* See Notes Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

0.41

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0.58United Kingdom

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

Performance budgetingpractices at the central level

of government (2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey of Performance Budgeting

Stakeholderengagement in

developing regulations

3.00

2.09

Regulatory ImpactAssessment for

developing regulations

3.41

2.05

Ex post evaluationof regulations

3.10

1.54

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 4 highest

0

1

2

3

4

United Kingdom

Notes Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures. Regulatory governance indicators: The results for stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessment apply exclusively to processes for developing primary laws initiated by the executive. Data is not applicable to the United States, where all primary laws are initiated by Congress. In the majority of countries, most primary laws are initiated by the executive, except for Mexico and Korea, where a higher share of primary laws are initiated by parliament/congress (respectively 90.6% and 84%). Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which dif fers from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt. Annual compensation across central government positions: Data for the United Kingdom refer to 2016 rather than 2015.

Open Data Digital Government

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

35.6%34.0%

United Kingdom

Individuals using the Internet for sending filled forms via public authorities websites

in the past 12 months (2016)

Source: OECD, ICT database; and Eurostat, Information Society database

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

(2017)Composite index: from 0 lowest to 1 highest

Source: OECD (2017) Survey on Open Government Data

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.78

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.55

United Kingdom

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Differences in income inequality pre and post-taxand government transfers (2013)

U.K.

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

0.53

0.36taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.32taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Limited government powers (2016)

0.75

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.85U.K.

Source: The World Justice Project

Core Government ResultsSatisfaction and confidence across public services

(2016)

70%

Judicial system Education system

76%20

40

60

80

100

Health care

67%68%55%63%

National government42%41%

U.K.

Average

Range

Police77%73%

Source: Gallup World Poll

% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Government at a Glance 2017Government at a Glance provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the goal of contributing to the analysis and international

comparison of public sector productivity and performance. Indicators on government revenues, expenditures, and employment are presented,

alongside key output and outcome data for education, health and justice. Information on key enablers to increase productivity including on digital

government, budget procedures, strategic human resource management, open government data and innovative practices are also included. In

a context of tight budget constraints in many member countries, good indicators are needed more than ever, in order to help governments make

informed decisions regarding resource allocation and to help restore confidence in government institutions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2017-en

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2017 are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm