The civil servants jobs cull: a ‘knee-jerk’ response to the cost-of-living crisis?
PM plans to cut a fifth of the civil service, or 91,000 jobs, within three years
“As a matter of basic courtesy”, it would have been better if civil servants had heard it from their bosses, said The Times. Instead, when they turned on their radios last Thursday morning, they learnt that the Government plans to cull a fifth of the civil service, or 91,000 jobs, within three years. Ministers have provided few details, beyond saying that they expect the cuts will save £3.5bn a year, enabling them to lower taxes; where the axe will fall is unclear. “The civil service has been told to come up with ideas.”
No doubt some branches of the state could be much more efficient: agencies such as the DVLA have become “flabby and intransigent”. And a good number of jobs, such as running the NHS test-and-trace scheme, have been added due to the “temporary demands of the pandemic”; cutting 91,000 would, the Government points out, merely return the civil service to the size it was in 2016. But inevitably, many frontline services will be trimmed. Which ones? The Passport Office and the criminal justice system, for example, are already struggling badly.
Is it really so complicated, asked Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail. The fact is even this “modest initiative” is too tentative: the corridors of Whitehall need “a hurricane-force hosing down”. It’s blindingly obvious that whole swathes of the civil service are failing. Ministers should start by tackling the “institutionalised culture of absenteeism”, which is what has caused the “intolerable delays” in the processing of driving licences, passports and tax rebates. Too many staff are sitting at home “munching Hobnobs and gawping at daytime TV”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Perhaps the Government could sack all the civil servants working from home, and “see if anyone really noticed the difference”, said Matthew Lynn in The Daily Telegraph. A recent survey found that only 27% of the Department for Work and Pensions and 31% of the Foreign Office, for example, are at their desk on any given day.
The civil service has grown fast in recent years, said William Atkinson on Conservative Home. But there are good reasons for that. Brexit, for instance, meant “a huge scaling up of some existing departments to cover duties repatriated from Brussels”. This plan would make sense if it came with a genuine wish to reform Whitehall. It doesn’t. It’s a “knee-jerk” response to the cost-of-living crisis, from a Goverment that is “fed up with officials”.
Boris Johnson loves the idea of a “war with Whitehall”, said Heather Stewart in The Guardian. He has been vocal in attacking what he called its “work-from-home mañana culture”. Is that sensible? If you really want to reform the civil service, it seems foolish to pit the civil servants against you.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Sitting in judgment on Trump
Opinion Who'd want to be on this jury?
By Susan Caskie Published
-
Israel's war is America's, too
Opinion 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' are just different slogans for the same hatred
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Is David Cameron overshadowing Rishi Sunak?
Talking Point Current PM faces 'thorny dilemma' as predecessor enjoys return to world stage
By The Week UK Published
-
Angela Rayner: did she commit tax fraud?
Talking point An unofficial biography released in March claimed that she avoided paying capital gains tax on a 2015 property sale
By The Week UK Published
-
Why did Oregon recriminalize drug possession?
Talking Points Arrests resume in the Beaver State, along with a new treatment effort
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Less than total recall
Editor's Letter Why our brains want to forget the darkest days of the pandemic
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Black and Hispanic voters: why they’re turning right
Talking Point Polling indicates that the groups may no longer be Democratic Party strongholds
By The Week UK Published
-
The Garrick: unfit for the modern world?
Talking Point Founded in 1831, the club is composed solely of men
By The Week UK Published