Use official statistics instead of FOI responses

[mattkerlogue]

Hi Sam, a friend sent me a link to your calculator. Great minds think alike! I undertook a similar endeavour back in 2021. My work was built in R using the Shiny framework for output, I've often considered re-writing it to use JS/Observable so that there's no need for a server-side entity like Shiny, but never got round to it.

One thing I noticed in you calculator was that you're using FOI requests as your source data - I'm not sure if you're aware but the Cabinet Office publishes the Civil Service Statistics annually. By using the tables published on annual salaries for full-time staff, I calculated a notional hourly salary for civil servants by grade and department/agency which is used in my calculator.

There's more detail about my method in this blog post if you're interested.

[Samuel-Hoskin]

Hey Matt,

Indeed! I must comment on your blog, I love the design and format of your writing. I was aware of those statistics but I was not a fan of the grouping of G7/G6 and HEO/SEO. I have found that some departments do publish transparency data on structure and salary (Home Office Example) but... I am lazy and have not got around to adding them or automating the data collection.

I will do that in the future, As well implement something from your calculator, the ability to include a person's name.