Institute for Government report lays bare problems of recruitment and morale in the civil service

Respected thinktank The Institute for Government has released a damning report, “Whitehall Monitor 2023“, laying bare the rate of churn and low level of morale in the civil service.

 

The report points to declining budgets and a real problem in retaining and recruiting the specialist staff the civil service needs to function properly.

Prospect, which represents thousands of specialists in the civil service and its agencies, is currently balloting its members on industrial action.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“This report from the Institute for Government makes stark reading for anyone with an interest in maintaining an effective civil service.

“Declining pay, tightening budgets and low morale have left departments at breaking point and civil servants leaving their jobs in droves. The government has a particular problem recruiting specialists, vital to effective delivery, and it is no wonder the way they have been treated over the last decade.

“If the government doesn’t start paying people properly then the civil service is at risk of collapse. It is for that reason, as well as threats to jobs and redundancy terms, that Prospect is balloting its members on industrial action. We cannot and will not continue like this.”