Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Rejected
This scale of these proposed cuts has the potential to bring about significant consequences for...
Conclusion
This scale of these proposed cuts has the potential to bring about significant consequences for service delivery, both in regard to the quality and efficiency of delivery and the range of services it will be possible to provide. At the time we took evidence, the Treasury said that 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 the effects for service users might be mitigated.75
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the committee's recommendation. The Prime Minister has confirmed that, rather than a top-down headcount reduction target, departments should look for the most effective ways to secure value and maximise efficiency within budgets. They will not be publishing a full plan to deliver the previously proposed Civil Service staffing reductions.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
6.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 6.2 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. 6.3 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. 6.4 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.