The number of civil servants leaving the Department for Education has almost doubled since before the pandemic, prompting concerns about its capacity to carry out the reforms of the next government. that 1,087 staff left the DfE in the 2023-24 financial year, up 18 per cent from 919 the year before, and 83 per cent higher than the 592 who left in 2018-19. It means that around 13 per cent of DfE staff left in 2023-24, an increase in turnover from just 7 per cent in 2018-19. 鈥淢ost鈥 employees leave to join other departments, the DfE said. Jacob Rees Mogg But former civil servants warned of a loss of 鈥渙rganisational memory鈥 and said 鈥渟erving the government of the day鈥 was now seen as more important than 鈥渟peaking truth unto power鈥. Others blamed the government鈥檚 back-to-the-office diktat, and union leaders pointed to stagnating pay. One former official, who spoke anonymously, said the relationship between ministers and civil servants had 鈥渄eteriorated dramatically”, pointing to attacks from Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg when he was minister for government efficiency. 鈥淲hy would you work somewhere where the people who run your organisation are denigrating your profession, are publicly humiliating you? Would you go and work for Barclays if the CEO said in the press every day how shit his staff were? Probably not.鈥 The findings come as political parties gear up for the general election. Based on current polls, a Labour victory looks likely. Labour’s delivery challenges ‘underplayed’ Reza Schwitzer, who worked at the DfE between 2013 and 2021, said the 鈥渄elivery challenges鈥 facing an incoming Labour administration had been 鈥渦nderplayed鈥, with 鈥渘ot enough attention鈥 paid to how reforms would be implemented. Reza Schwitzer He said Bridget Phillipson was 鈥渞ight鈥 to praise Michael Gove鈥檚 鈥渟ense of energy and drive and determination鈥. He added: 鈥淓veryone involved knew what he was trying to deliver, but also, crucially, how we were to go about delivering it 鈥 what I would call the theory of change. 鈥淭he 鈥榳hat鈥 is important, but 鈥榟ow鈥 is potentially the real challenge given the state of the department and of the system.鈥 Gareth Conyard, who worked at the department from 2003 to 2022, said he 鈥渓oved being at the DfE鈥, but it had 鈥渘ot felt like a happy place for a while before I left. 鈥楽erving the government of the day鈥 over-rode the importance of 鈥榮peaking truth unto power鈥.鈥 Following the Brexit decision, he said that civil servants 鈥渂ecame wary of saying things that were factually true but politically inconvenient for fear of being ignored鈥. Problems across civil service Other departments also saw an increase in leavers. Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, the number leaving the Department for Work and Pensions rose 15 per cent, while the number of leavers from the Ministry of Justice increased by 54 per cent. However, while both departments saw bigger increases in 2021-22 and 2022-23, leaver numbers dropped last year. Some of the DfE鈥檚 recent leavers were also the result of a 鈥渧oluntary exit鈥 scheme. Accounts show that this resulted in 384 exit packages in 2022-23. But Tim Leunig, a former senior policy adviser, said departments “grow and shrink all the time, and when departments shrink obviously the proportion of people leaving rises”. “The civil service grew a lot for understandable reasons during Brexit and covid and it is equally understandable that it is shrinking now.” Another former official, who asked not to be named, said there was 鈥渘o organisational memory, so stuff is just perpetually being kind of repeated and rehashed, which slows down progress because no one remembers what had been done a year before because they weren鈥檛 there鈥. David Thomas, who served as a policy adviser between 2021 and 2023, said the 鈥渃hallenges in our education system are deep and complex鈥. 鈥淲e need people with experience and expertise steering the system so that we can make progress and not reinvent the wheel.鈥 ‘Bizarre’ back to office edict contributed Officials said a key driver of some departures was the government鈥檚 insistence that civil servants work at least three days a week in the office after the pandemic. Not enough desks as DfE staff ordered back to crowded offices The 鈥減ush to get officials back into the office to prove what felt like a political point鈥 was 鈥渄amaging鈥, Conyard said. He added: 鈥淚t just felt bizarre, and that cannot help but have an impact on trust in decision making.鈥 The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said 65 per cent of its DfE members had reported not seeing a 鈥渓ong-term future with the department鈥. Helen Kenny, the union鈥檚 national officer for the DfE, warned that 鈥渨ith sub-inflation pay offers and an absence of pay progression, civil servants are left with no option but to move roles to seek higher pay鈥. She added: 鈥淩ecruitment costs are significant to departments 鈥 the capacity lost by each vacant post and the time taken for each recruit to get up to speed impacts the department鈥檚 ability to deliver for the public.鈥 But data from DfE staff surveys shows that employees鈥 鈥渆ngagement index鈥 鈥 which rates experiences at work across nine themes 鈥 has actually increased from 63 per cent in 2018 to 65 per cent last year.