PCS Oppose Government Job Cuts Announcement

Government announces 91,000 job cuts to bring Civil Service down to 2016 levels. PCS rejects this attempt to slash our jobs and decimate services we provide.

Members in the Home Office including those working in Arm’s Length Bodies have understandably reacted with shock, along with members right across the civil service, at the news the government intend to slash 91,000 jobs over the next 3 years.

The stated aim is to return Civil Service numbers to pre-Brexit 2016 levels. This attempt to re-write history is completely misguided primarily on the basis that it is trying to ignore the real changes that Brexit has brought with it, and the increased numbers of staff that have been needed to the work that we do. Furthermore, rather than the result of a detailed analysis of where savings and efficiencies can be made the 91,000 number has been plucked from the air with no reasoning at all.

Members may have seen the message from the Permanent Secretaries on the horizon intranet. The tone and lack of detail certainly appears to show them as shocked about the announcement as the rest of us working under them.

The Home Office have external adverts for thousands of permanent positions currently live. Whilst the department is finding it difficult to fill these, in part due to the poor pay, they are budgeted for and needed. It was only the end of last year that the three-year spending review set departmental budgets, including our own, and broad staffing expectations agreed. There was no talk at that stage of significant reductions in staffing, and the announcement smacks of a political stunt rather than the result of detailed policy formulation.

PCS understand that departments have been charged with modelling 20% and 30% cuts, producing plans by the end of June. It is simply not credible that we can continue to complete the massively important work we do with those kinds of cuts. In fact, we are struggling to deliver now, hence the recruitment activity currently underway in areas such as the passport office, Border Force, asylum, and ALBs such as SIA. This leads to the conclusion that the desire is to slash the services we

provide or look to privatisation. This would lead to no improvements in service and may cost the taxpayer more, but the crude aim of this government newspaper friendly policy is just to slash our numbers.

As Civil Servants we should expect support and the backing of our employer – the Government. As with the pathetic posturing over working from home, it appears that our jobs are now to be subject to being used as a political football.

PCS will be meeting the department next week to engage in initial discussions to understand more detail of how this Cabinet instruction will affect us. Our priority is protecting jobs and arguing for a department staffed with requisite numbers of permanent staff to complete the work we do for the public.

James Cox (Group President), Pete Wright (Group Vice President), Mike Jones (Group Secretary)