Departments have delegated authority to determine their own pay and grading arrangements below the senior civil service that are tailored to meet their business needs. Under the delegated arrangements, comprehensive information on grading structures in individual departments is not held centrally and could only be collected at disproportionate cost. Similarly, it is for each department to determine what bargaining arrangements are appropriate for their own organisation and their executive agencies. Cabinet Office records indicate that there are about 80 bargaining units currently operating across the civil service and there were about 100 in 2002. Cabinet Office has no records for the other years requested.
Pay for senior civil servants is not delegated to departments and is not subject to collective bargaining. The number of SCS pay bands was reduced from nine to four in 2001; this remains the current position.