The class composition of the senior ranks of the civil service has barely changed since 1967, research reveals, with civil servants from poorer backgrounds less likely to climb the “velvet drainpipe” to the top, and the vast majority of senior roles occupied by people from privileged backgrounds. Pockets of the civil service are particularly elitist, with just 12% of senior Treasury staff coming from low socio-economic backgrounds. Overall, only 18% of the 6,000-strong cohort of senior civil servants come from disadvantaged backgrounds, while one in four of this group was independently educated, the research reveals. The report identifies a clear type of behaviour – described as “studied neutrality” – which enables people to move more quickly through the hierarchy to top roles. In order to be successful, the research notes, civil servants need to master this behavioural code. It involves using an RP accent (received pronunciation, the middle class accent of southern England); adopting an “emotionally detached and understated self-presentation”; and displaying “an intellectual approach to culture and politics that prizes the display of in-depth knowledge for its own sake (and not directly related to work)”. “Those from low socio-economic backgrounds find this code alienating and intimidating but one which they must assimilate in order to succeed,” concludes the report, which is published by the Social Mobility Commission in conjunction with the London School of Economics. The civil service is one of the largest employers in the country, with a workforce of about 445,000 people across the UK. In recent decades it has worked on promoting policies to ensure fairer, more diverse recruitment, but its record on socio-economic diversity has been less well scrutinised. The last detailed research was conducted more than half a century ago in 1967, when analysis showed the proportion of senior civil servants from lower socio-economic backgrounds was higher than it is today (19% in 1967, compared with 18% today). Rather than a glass ceiling hindering progress for people from poorer backgrounds, the report concludes that the path to senior positions is like a labyrinth: in theory there is a route to the centre for everyone but it is largely hidden. Although formal promotion protocols are sensitive to issues of diversity and inclusion, interviewees said mastery of a series of “unwritten rules” provided the most effective map through the labyrinth. One of the 100 civil servants who gave hour-long interviews for the report described trying to climb a “velvet drainpipe” to the top. There is also a strong “progression gap” within the civil service, so that the higher you progress, the less likely you are to find people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, the report says. “An important part of progressing through the labyrinth of the civil service is mastering the unwritten rules; what jobs to take, where to work, how to negotiate opportunities, and above all how to behave,” said Sam Friedman, the report’s author and incoming professor of sociology at the LSE. “Strikingly it is those from privileged backgrounds who hold the upper hand in unpicking these hidden rules.” The study, based on a survey of more than 300,000 civil servants, also notes that people who cannot afford to move to London for work have far fewer prospects for promotion – only 22% of London-based civil servants are from low socio-economic backgrounds. Rapid promotion to top positions in Whitehall can be helped by securing “accelerator roles”, posts that expose employees to ministers and senior officials. But knowing how to secure these jobs appears to depend on getting advice from those already in them. “These guide relationships are often forged on the basis of cultural similarity and, as senior staff are disproportionately from advantaged backgrounds, this tends to benefit those from high socio-economic backgrounds,” the Navigating the Labyrinth report states. In 2019, 59% of serving permanent secretaries, the most senior role in each government department, had attended an independent school. A series of recommendations has been made to the Cabinet Office on how to reform recruitment and promotion to address some of these issues. Proposals include introducing five-year targets to increase representation of people from low socio-economic backgrounds. “It’s not just about challenging inequality of opportunity, wasted talent, continuing class privilege or helping a small group get to the top,” the report states. “It’s also about building more effective workforces for everyone. “Evidence shows that organisations work better, and are more creative, when they have people from different backgrounds, offering different perspectives. This is even more imperative when one’s role, as in the civil service, is to shape what Britain looks like.” A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The civil service has a responsibility to reflect the people we serve and harness the broadest range of talent across the country. While we may not agree with everything in the report, we accept that there’s more to do. ‘With civil service roles moving out of London as we level up across the country, we’re increasing opportunities for our existing staff of all backgrounds to develop their careers, while also drawing on a new and diverse talent pool.”