In a new report, the Public Administration and
Constitutional Affairs Committee is urging officials in the
Cabinet Office to ensure that the data collected in the Civil
Service People Survey – one of the largest public sector
workforce surveys – are made equally and promptly available to
all, following concerns raised about the quality and timeliness
of the release of survey data in recent years.
Collecting views from hundreds of thousands of officials each
year, the People Survey provides an annual snapshot of civil
servants’ satisfaction across a range of areas, including their
views on leadership, and pay and benefits.
The Committee questions the current practice of publishing survey
data externally months after it is circulated internally, as well
as the practice of coinciding external disclosure with the
quarterly so-called ‘transparency’ days, on which large
quantities of other important governmental information are also
put into the public sphere.
MPs also draw attention to the fact that data are now distributed
for public consumption without the benefit of accompanying
commentary, and in a format which can make secondary analysis
challenging. MPs recommend that initial results from the People
Survey should be published at the time they are made available to
participants, and before the end of the calendar year to which
results refer, in order to increase transparency. They also
recommend that the People Survey be published as an ‘official
statistic’, complying fully with the statutory Code of Practice
for Statistics.
MPs note that few civil servants believe effective action is
taken in response to People Survey results and suggest that how
departments respond to the data are better coordinated by the
Cabinet Office to maximise the survey’s scope and potential for
impact in addressing issues raised in responses.
Chair's comment
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Chair,
, said:
“The Civil Service People Survey is an important tool in
capturing the views of hundreds of thousands of civil servants
across the UK and offers rich insights into their experiences and
performance, and of morale in the very heart of government.
“Our Committee’s report makes a number of suggestions to ensure
that users of the survey data all have equal access to important
information about our civil service in a timely fashion, and to
ensure that civil servants across the UK feel their voices are
being heard and action is being taken in response by their
leadership.
“Our recommendations seek to ensure that these important results
are put to good use by officials in driving transparency and
efficiency improvements within government.”
