Information on the Department’s workforce is published monthly on the GOV.UK website, and can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dhsc-workforce-management-information

The following table shows the number of non-payroll staff recorded in the relevant Monthly Workforce Management Information categories for the Department, in line with published Monthly Workforce Management Information and excluding agencies, at the end of March in each of the last five years:

We have taken ‘political appointees’ to mean special advisers. A list of special advisers by Department is published each year in the Annual Report on Special Advisers which is laid in Parliament. The Annual Report on Special Advisers 2026 will be published in due course.

The Department has not procured or engaged the services of any external consultants, either individuals or companies, for the general purpose of public relations since July 2024.

The Department does not permit civil servants to work overseas on a regular basis. The Department has a policy for staff to work remotely overseas for short defined periods of time if travelling on official business, where there is a critical business need or unforeseen personal circumstance that require them to work while outside of the United Kingdom. All requests for international working are considered on a case‑by‑case basis, balancing a clear business need against security risks, with approval granted only where those risks can be appropriately mitigated.

The Government is committed to harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the productivity of the Civil Service and the quality of public services.

Departments provide officials, Ministers and special advisers with access to secure, enterprise-grade generative AI tools that have been assured to the appropriate security standards and approved for official use. Ministers, special advisers and officials may only use generative AI tools that their department has approved for official use. The use of publicly available or consumer versions of generative AI tools, including those named in the Question, for official business is not permitted unless a department has specifically assured and approved that tool.

Approved enterprise tools are configured so that departmental data is held securely and is not used to train publicly available AI models. The use of generative AI across Government is governed by the cross-government Generative AI Framework for HMG and the AI Playbook for the UK Government, which set out the principles for the safe, responsible and effective use of these tools.

The Department has an artificial intelligence policy and clear guidance in place governing the use of such tools. This guidance is aligned with the AI Playbook.

The Department has implemented Microsoft Copilot for use in its official business. Microsoft Copilot is available to all officials who hold an official Departmental IT account.