Understanding the Civil Service

This website and its accompanying publications provides a thorough introduction to the duties, responsibilities and working practices of Whitehall officials. They also contain detailed information about civil service numbers, pay, pensions etc. as well as a detailed history of civil service reform and a great deal of advice for new recruits. Other sections focus on specific subjects such as  Women Civil Servants,   Special Advisers  and  Ministerial Directions.

You might also like to investigate my Understanding Regulation and Understanding Local Government websites.  Pages on these three websites have now been viewed a total of 4.0 million times.

Scroll down this page to access all areas of the site.  There is also a comprehensive online library.  Or you might like to use this search facility:-

Spotted something wrong?
Please do drop me an email if you spot anything that is out-of-date, or any other errors, typos or faulty links.