As part of the drastic reductions in government operating costs, Rachel Reeves plans to cut 10,000 civil service positions.
She said to the BBC at the weekend that the civil servant must save more than PS2 billion per year in administrative costs. Wednesday’s spring statement is expected include details on how departments can achieve this.
The Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden will send a letter to government departments this week with instructions about how to make savings by the end the decade. Job cuts will be in administrative and back-office roles, not front-line service.
The departments must reduce their running costs by 10% in 2028-29 and 15% the next year. This will save PS2.2 billion per annum. Human resources, office management and communications could all lose staff.
As part of its campaign against wasteful spending, the Cabinet Office ordered government departments to block almost 20,000 credit card numbers last week.
The government also implemented radical changes in the benefits system. NHS England was abolished as a separate organization.
Reeves said to BBC that each department was asked to rank its spending, from most important to least.
She said: “We want more money to be spent on things that matter most for voters and citizens. We don’t want money being spent on things that we shouldn’t do or are not necessary.”
Union Reaction
Reeves’ statements sparked a furious reaction from the unions. Fran Heathcote said that after 15 years of underfunding any cuts would have an effect on frontline services.
The public complains every day that they have to wait too long to pay their taxes, or that jobseekers are rushed through in ten minutes, because there isn’t enough personnel to help them. Victims of crimes must wait until 2027 for their cases to be heard by the courts, and the backlog within the asylum system results in increased hotel costs.
The impact of cuts will not only be detrimental to our members, but also the public and services that they depend on.
Dave Penman, the head of the FDA, which represents senior civil service employees, said that the idea that HR and communication teams could be cut to large scales was “for birds”.
He added that “this plan will require Ministers to be honest about the impact on the public services,” and with their civil servants.
Mike Clancy, the head of Prospect union, said: “Civil servants of all kinds of roles help the people and deliver the missions of the government.
Cutting them will have an impact on the public that they will notice.”
Heathcote warned that the government could “expect to face a lot opposition” in its plans.
She said, “We heard it before under Gordon Brown. He cut backroom staff. The result was chaos.”
The last government has taught us that growth cannot be achieved by cutting back.
“We are happy to engage the government on many issues, but if they do not talk to us about the arbitrary number of cuts that they have thrown out there to sound efficient they will face a lot opposition. Not just from the unions, but also from the public whose services will be cut.”
Kate Palmer, director of employment services at Peninsula, stated that the Cabinet Office must ensure that it follows a fair procedure when redundancies are made.
This starts with a solid business case that supports the decision to make a redundancy. Before making any decisions, it is important to consult the staff affected by redundancies and look at all possible options. “If no alternative is found and an employee is made redundant then they are entitled notice pay, and if they’ve had over two years of service, they also get redundancy payment,” she said.
Depending on the number of people involved, a collective consultation could be necessary. In this case, if the business does not consult properly, the tribunal may award an additional award of up to 90 days pay to any successful claim for unfair dismissal. It is therefore vital that businesses follow the right process as failure to do this could lead to even more costs.”
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