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<p>The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office for both
management and staffing purposes and is not a standalone department.</p><p>The total
of c15,000 includes the UK Statistics Authority which is a non-ministerial department
and is a government department in its own right, accountable to parliament through
its sponsoring ministers and therefore should not be included in the total Cabinet
Office FTE.</p><p>Since 2011 the role and remit of the Cabinet Office has expanded
significantly. At that point in time, the Department’s role was largely to support
the Prime Minister and the operation of Government through the Prime Minister’s Office,
Ministers’ Private Offices, Cabinet Secretariats and the Efficiency and Reform Group.</p><p>By
2021, the role of the Cabinet Office in managing the Civil Service had grown significantly
to incorporate a number of new major delivery responsibilities, including responsibility
for UK border plans, UK Security Vetting (UKSV) functions, and functions formerly
overseen by the now-closed Department for Exiting the European Union (DEXEU). The
creation of the Government Commercial Organisation and the move of the Fast Stream
Government Recruitment Service from HMRC also saw a combined c2000+ FTE join the Cabinet
Office between 2017 and 2018.</p><p>On 2 October 2023, the Chancellor announced an
immediate cap on civil servant headcount, reducing the size of the Civil Service to
pre-pandemic levels across Whitehall by stopping any further Civil Service expansion, increasing
efficiencies and boosting productivity.</p><p> </p>
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