Government must remember that a cheaper civil service is not the same as a better civil service

Prospect has responded to Sunday Telegraph reports that the UK government will tell departments they must cut administration budgets by up to 15% over five years.

Mike Clancy, Prospect General Secretary, said:

“Prospect has consistently warned government against adopting arbitrary targets for civil service headcount cuts which are more about saving money than about genuine civil service reform. The government say they will not fall into this trap again. But this will require a proper assessment of what the civil service will and won’t do in future.

“Reforming the civil service to make it function better is a goal that staff support, but government must remember that a cheaper civil service is not the same as a better civil service.

“It is also not the case that there is a clear divide between ‘back office’ and ‘front line’ public servants. Civil servants in all types of roles help the public and deliver the government’s missions. Cutting them will inevitably have an impact that will be noticed by the public.

“Prospect expect to engage with the government on workforce plans and will scrutinise them in detail, standing up for the importance of the work our members do on behalf of the public.”

Following confirmation of the story by the Chancellor in her interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mike Clancy added:

“The government has committed that this cut to budgets is not translated into an arbitrary civil service headcount reduction target. Ministers must make sure this is delivered on.

“The Chancellor has talked about undertaking a zero based review of spending, this must include a realistic assessment of what the civil service doesn’t do in future as a result of these cuts.

“Public servants in both ‘back office’ and ‘front line’ role will both be critical to delivering on the government’s missions, and the government must recognise that many civil servants are working in ‘front line’ roles.

“As a union Prospect will engage with ministers on civil service reform but this must involve detailed discussion on workforce plans across government, and a proper recognition of the unique specialist, digital, technical and scientific skills our members bring to government.”