Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Rejected
Government has not yet set out the consequences of announced Civil Service staffing reductions.
Recommendation
Government has not yet set out the consequences of announced Civil Service staffing reductions. In May 2022, the government announced that it intends to cut 91,000 jobs from the civil service over the next three years. The 2021 Spending Review had already confirmed the need for savings of 5% against day-to-day central departmental budgets in 2024–25, however, these new cuts, which represent a 20% reduction in headcount, are far more significant. The Treasury acknowledges that it does not yet understand the scale or cost of redundancies that are likely to be required to achieve the desired reduction in headcount across the civil service. This scale of headcount reduction has the potential to bring about significant consequences for departmental service quality and delivery. At the time we took evidence, no work had been completed, either by the Treasury or by other affected departments, to understand the impact on delivery of public services or how to mitigate the effects for service users. One way in which cuts might be achieved while maintaining delivery levels is through increased digitisation of services. There is a risk that if a rapid reduction in headcount led to a sacrifice of resources needed to achieve digital transformations, that current progress towards digitalisation might be jeopardised; damaging the potential to reduce long-term staffing needs organically. 8 Whole of Government Accounts 2019–20 Recommendation: HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office should prepare a clearly articulated and costed plan based on proposed staffing reductions across government, and ensure that reductions represent value for money, and tell us in its Treasury Minute response when that will be published. Whole of Government Accounts 2019–20 9 1 Timeliness of the WGA and the impact of delays
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation to prepare a costed plan based on proposed staffing reductions across government, stating that they will not be publishing a full plan to deliver the previously proposed Civil Service staffing reductions, and will instead focus on departmental efficiency and savings reviews.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. The Prime Minister has confirmed that, rather than a top-down headcount reduction target, department should look for the most effective ways to secure value and maximise efficiency within budgets, to ensure the best value for taxpayers both now and in the long term. As a result, the government has not set top-down targets for Civil Service headcount reductions through the Efficiency and Savings Review launched in the Autumn Statement and will not be publishing a full plan to deliver the previously proposed Civil Service staffing reductions. At Spending Review 2021, departments already identified 5% RDEL savings against day-to-day central departmental budgets in 2024-25, and HM Treasury is monitoring the delivery of these. The focus of the forthcoming Efficiency and Savings Review will be to task every government department to look for the most effective ways to secure value and maximise efficiency within budgets to use taxpayers’ money sustainably in the long-term including, where appropriate, headcount reductions. Departments will develop plans with specific efficiency savings to ensure they can live within the budgets set at the last spending review including any plans for headcount reductions, which they will own and deliver. The outcome of the Efficiency and Savings Review will be reported next spring and monitored by HM Treasury for the remainder of the SR period. The Chancellor and Chief Secretary to the Treasury will oversee the delivery of these efficiency savings and are also holding regular meetings with Ministers to drive efficiency. At the same time, the civil service needs to ensure it has the skills, tools and resources to be a modern civil service that reflects the people it serves, and provides value for money to the taxpayer. Government functions will work with departments to ensure overall workforce plans, including any appropriate reductions, deliver a skilled and increasingly profesionalised workforce to enable effective delivery in line with the government’s longer term strategy for Civil Service reform.