Category Archives: civil service

‘Recipe For Disaster’: Labour’s Plan To Cut Civil Service Slammed

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Labour’s new plan to cut civil service jobs was torn apart this morning as union chiefs said it was a “recipe for disaster”.

Whitehall departments have increased by over 15,000 since the end of 2023, but, according to the government, working people have not seen tangible improvements.

In a plan set to be announced in the coming days, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden is going to introduce “mutually agreed exits” so people who are underperforming are able to leave their jobs easily.

The highest paid civil servants will be dismissed if there’s no improvement within six months, and there will be a new pay-results system, while also increasing the use of digital systems.

But, the plan has been slated by unions and compared to “Trumpian” efforts to slim down the state in the US.

The general secretary of the Trades Union Congress Paul Nowak told Times Radio he is “disappointed” in this plan, and said cuts to the civil service are not what’s needed right now.

He said: “I think these are a set of proposals that look more about grabbing headlines rather than about a serious plan for reforming our public services.”

Nowak said to enact public sector reform, “you have to be serious about engaging the staff who are involved in delivering those services” otherwise it is a “recipe for disaster”.

He also took issue with the suggestion the civil service is not working effectively, saying: “It was a decade and a half of underinvestment in our public services. Now the number of civil services, civil servants has gone up.

“We have had Brexit in the last few years and we now do things in the UK, trade agreements for example that we didn’t do before.

“A whole range of things around veterinary standards for example that we didn’t have to do before.”

Prime minister Keir Starmer sparked backlash last year when he claimed “too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in tepid bath of managed decline,” and warned change was coming to the civil service.

Touching on the prime minister’s comment, Nowak said he did not agree “on the Trumpian language”.

He said: “I don’t think the language is always helpful when you try and paint those who are delivering public services often at the sharp end in difficult circumstances as somehow part of the problem.

“Now the civil service public service workforce is like any workforce there are some people who don’t pull their weight.

“To characterise the vast majority of people who are working hard day in day out as somehow the part of the problem and that’s what they do I think is unfair.”

Similarly, the general secretary of the FDA – the civil service union – Dave Penman told the same radio that the issue comes down to the constant changing of hands in government.

He said: “We’ve had six prime ministers, eight chancellors, 40 ministers in the Treasury departments, hundreds of different ministers because of the chaotic political leadership over the last 10 years.

“If you want to look at how you solve the problem with public services, look at the political chaos that we’ve had to deal with as well, not just simply headlines around sacking civil servants.

“We wouldn’t be in business if people weren’t sacked for poor performance in the civil service. ”

Penman said this new plan was all about “cheap headlines”.

“The idea that you can simply get more for less is rhetoric. It’s a headline that’s not reality. You have to demonstrate how you do that. Technology can play a role, AI can play a role, but how is it actually going to do that? That’s what ministers should be setting out rather than these cheap headlines,” he said.

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Exclusive: Ministers Try To Rebuild Bridges With Whitehall After Starmer’s ‘Trumpian’ Attack On Civil Servants

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Ministers are trying to restore relations with their civil servants after comments by Keir Starmer caused fury last week, HuffPost UK can reveal.

In a major speech, the prime minister claimed too many in Whitehall “are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline”.

He said they had “forgotten, to paraphrase JFK, that you choose change, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard”.

That prompted Dave Penman, general secretary of civil servants’ union the FDA, to write to the PM accusing him of a “Trumpian” attack on his members.

A Whitehall source told HuffPost UK that senior ministers are “doing the rounds to show love” in their departments in an attempt to repair the damage caused by the prime minister’s comments.

One civil service source said: “We’re tired of being criticised in public and thanked in private – that’s what happened with the last government.”

In a further attempt at improving relations with officials, Starmer today wrote a letter to civil servants thanking them for their efforts.

He said: “From my time as Director of Public Prosecutions, I know first-hand just how fortunate this country is to have a civil service that is admired across the world.

“I saw it every day, I depended on it every day, I was proud to be part of it every day. And from all I have seen during my first five months as prime minister, my appreciation for your service to this country has only grown.”

But responding to the PM’s letter, Dave Penman said it did not go far enough.

He said: “I’m sure civil servants will welcome the message from the prime minister, recognising the challenges the civil service faces as it strives to deliver the government’s agenda and their shared desire to deliver better public services.

“But he needs to to go further. As minister for the civil service, the prime minister should not underestimate the damage his remarks last week made.

“If he is to deliver his vision for change, he needs to inspire, not denigrate the civil service.”

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Liz Truss Writes To Civil Service Again Over ‘Matter Of Deep Concern To British Public’

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Liz Truss has spoken up once again about her name appearing in an official briefing document this week, claiming this should be a “matter of deep concern to the British public”.

The former PM lodged an official complaint on Wednesday with the country’s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, after she was mentioned three times in briefing documents published for the King’s Speech.

Her “disastrous” mini-Budget was referenced repeatedly in the notes, which still are available on the official government website.

Case has since directed officials to remove the Truss’s name.

But less than 24 hours later, the ex-PM published yet another letter asking him to investigate further about how her name appeared in the official documents, with eight follow-up questions.

She asked: “Have you opened an investigation into how this happened?

“Who was the senior civil servant who gave final sign-off to the document?

“How many other civil servants had sight of the errant pages before they went to press?”

She also asked if there was a “breach of the Civil Service code” by mentioning her name and if any civil servants found to be responsible would be held to account.

“How many physical copies of the errant document were printed and have you made efforts to recover and pulp unissued copies of it?” Truss added.

She also asked if the opinion of a think tank attacking a politician could be regarded as a “key fact” in a document, and added: “Will you share the conclusions of whatever investigation you are undertaking?”

Truss said she is “very disturbing” her name made it into the Civil Service document, and “impugned my name without evidence”.

She continued: “That not a single person who drafted, edited, proofed or signed off so significant a document saw fit to challenge the slurs against me would only go to suggest that there is a settled view in Whitehall which accepts the narrative of my political opponents without challenge.

“This should be a matter of deep concern to the British public.”

All mentions of Truss in the briefing notes appear to have been pulled after she complained yesterday.

The online documents previously said Labour were planning on rolling out a Budget Responsibility Bill which would “ensure that the mistakes of Liz Truss min-Budget cannot repeated” with a “fiscal lock”.

Another reference said: “The fiscal lock is intended to capture and prevent those announcements that could resemble the disastrous mini-Budget.”

The final one said: “The Institute for Government have said that ’Rachel Reeves has made welcome moves to improve fiscal policy making – Liz Truss’s autumn mini-Budget is a lesson in how not to do fiscal policy.”

Truss lost her seat in the general election as part of the humiliating Tory defeat.

She has since flown to the US to endorse Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the upcoming presidential election.

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Liz Truss Criticised Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Sacking Of Top Civil Servant

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Liz Truss has been criticised for the “unwise and unconstitutional” sacking of a top civil servant.

Tom Scholar was axed as the permanent secretary at the Treasury on Kwasi Kwarteng’s first day as chancellor.

He said Kwarteng had decided it was time for “new leadership” but that he would be “cheering on from the sidelines” in future.

However, the move has been criticised for former senior members of the civil service.

Sir Simon McDonald, the former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, said “parliament needs to act”.

He tweeted: “Cabinet ministers sacking permanent secretaries on their 1st day in office is unwise & unconstitutional but the government has discovered it can do what it wants with the civil service, which has no power to resist.

“The retired complain, but so what? Parliament needs to act.”

He was responding to a letter in The Times by Sir David Normington, who was permanent secretary at the Home Office between 2006 and 2010.

He said: “The sad fact is that in sacking Sir Tom Scholar, one of the ablest civil servants of his generation, the prime minister and chancellor have sent a clear message to the civil service that they are not interested in impartial advice and intend to surround themselves with ‘yes’ men and women.

“That is a sure route to bad decision-making and weak government.”

Scholar’s sacking came after Truss made clear during the Tory leadership contest that she wanted to challenge the Treasury “orthodoxy” on how to run the economy.

Kwarteng will next week use a mini-budget to unveil the government’s plan to slash taxes to boost economic growth.

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Liz Truss Sparks Backlash Over ‘Woke’ Civil Service Antisemitism Claim

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Liz Truss was today facing a backlash after she claimed that “woke” civil service culture “strays into antisemitism”.

The frontrunner in the race to replace Boris Johnson issued a press release vowing to protect Jews from “creeping antisemitism and wokeism”.

However, one part of the announcement, in which she launched an attack on civil servants, sparked fierce criticism.

Team Truss wrote: “She will change woke civil service culture that strays into antisemitism.”

“The civil service is the best workplace to be Jewish to be honest, everyone is so friendly, so it’s all quite strange.”

– A Jewish civil servant speaks to us anonymously

Reacting to the comments, a civil servant working in a major government department told HuffPost UK they had never once heard about an antisemitism problem.

The civil servant, who we are not naming, said: “Honestly, we’re used to ridiculous comments from ministers but to start throwing around that the civil service is antisemitic is such a baffling and odd attack and so offensive to civil servants.

“It’s also patently nonsensical to say ‘they’re so woke they’re antisemitic’. What on earth does that even mean? Every single day I consider leaving the civil service because of these people.”

Another civil servant, who is Jewish, told us there might have been some issues over diversity courses.

But they added: “I think she’s just vomited out a load of buzzwords and ended up with something objectionable.

“The civil service is the best workplace to be Jewish to be honest, everyone is so friendly, so it’s all quite strange.”

Dame Margaret Hodge and Dave Penman criticised Liz Truss's comments.
Dame Margaret Hodge and Dave Penman criticised Liz Truss’s comments.

A civil servant, who recently left for the private sector, said the “constant attacks” and lack of faith after partygate drove them to leave.

“I know of dozens of good civil servants who are leaving because of this negativity,” they added.

“How ministers, MPs, and leadership candidates can keep making unsubstantiated comments and threats, and still expect to have anyone who can actually deliver left, is beyond me.”

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union for senior civil servants, said Truss’s accusations were a “little ironic” given the Tories had been in power for 12 years.

“Truss’s accusation of antisemitism goes further than the usual dog-whistle politics that has been on display during this leadership campaign when it comes to the civil service,” he added.

“She provides no evidence for her accusation that many civil servants will find both insulting and abhorrent.”

Veteran Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge described the comments as “below the belt”.

The former cabinet minister, who is Jewish and has been outspoken about antisemitism in her own party, added: “Using antisemitism to peddle the right’s ‘anti-woke agenda’ is below the belt.

“The oldest form of racism is not a tool to use in the divisive culture war nonsense.”

Times journalist Hugo Rifkind commented: “This is baffling, but also grim. Equating Jews with rightwing reactionary politics is what leftwing antisemites do. Am pretty colossally unkeen on Tories doing it, too.”

Sam Freedman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government, said: “I worked in the civil service for three years and have worked with numerous officials on various things since then and have never once experienced any antisemitism. Bizarre comment.”

Journalist Etan Smallman tweeted: “Antisemitism is far too serious for anyone to be using it in the same sentence as ‘civil service wokeism’. Let alone our prospective prime minister.”

Dr Ruvi Ziegler, associate professor in international refugee law at the University of Reading, commented: “WTAF is ‘woke civil service culture’? Who comes up with this nonsense, and how on earth is this related to British Jews?”

Another Twitter user commented: “Attacking the civil service (who cannot respond in the media) is weak, pathetic and unbefitting someone seeking the highest office in the land.”

HuffPost UK contacted Truss’s team asking for evidence of an antisemitism problem in the civil service.

Her team referred us to an interview Truss gave to the Jewish Chronicle in which she pledged action to change civil service “woke” culture, including within the foreign office.

When discussing how she was committed to eradicating antisemitism in various bodies, she revealed she had to “overrule” foreign office officials who did not share her views.

The article did not outline what the issue was or what she specifically disagreed with civil servants on.

The press release was issued after Truss spoke at a synagogue in Manchester.

In a written statement, hitting out at “civil service wokeism”, Truss said: “Every organisation has its culture, but it’s not fixed, it can be changed.

“That’s what ministerial leadership is about: it’s about making sure that the policies we represent, the values we stand for, are reflected in what we do. I’ve been very clear with our officials about the positions we take on Israel, and that will continue if I become prime minister.”

Truss also announced she would review whether schools are doing enough to educate about antisemitism, rid university campuses of antisemitism and work to secure a free trade agreement between the UK and Israel.

A Truss campaign source also appeared to link Labour’s antisemitism problem when Jeremy Corbyn was leader with Keir Starmer.

The source said: “The Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer and his colleague Jeremy Corbyn has been a talking shop for antisemitism and antizionism.

“This has increased anxieties within the Jewish community.”

The Labour Party has been approached for comment.

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Leak Inquiry Launched Over Briefings Against Penny Mordaunt

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The head of the civil service has launched an inquiry into leaks allegedly designed to damage Penny Mordaunt’s leadership campaign.

Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, launched the probe after papers drawn up by civil servants made their way into a Sunday Times story.

The paper claimed the documents suggest she backed watering down the legal process for transitioning when she was equalities minister.

Her team fiercely rebutted the story, saying the contest was being distracted by side issues. Mordaunt’s campaign has been the subject of a number of briefings that she has described as “toxic”.

Case has promised the investigation will be completed “as quickly as possible” given the “importance” of the subject.

David Davis, who is supporting Mordaunt’s run to be prime minister, wrote to the government equalities office demanding to know how the policy paper was released.

In a letter to Tory MP Davis, Case said: “Thank you for your letter of 17 July, raising your concerns about the apparent leaking of information designed to influence the Conservative leadership election.

“I have been very clear in writing with the civil service that it is paramount that public resources are not used to support leadership campaigns during the Conservative Party leadership election.

“Further to that, unauthorised disclosure of government information to the media is clearly inappropriate.

“In light of these facts and the concerns you raise, I can confirm that I have launched a leak investigation into this matter.

“The investigation will be completed as quickly as possible given the importance of the subject.”

Mordaunt herself has accused her Conservative leadership rivals of mounting a smear campaign against her and condemned “toxic” briefings from rival camps.

In response to the original story, Baroness Williams of Trafford, the equalities minister from 2018 to 2020, refuted the allegations, saying: “I feel compelled to issue a statement to challenge the factually incorrect representations put forward by leadership candidates in relation to Penny Mordaunt MP’s position and tenure at the equalities office.

“The events relayed at the hustings and repeated again to the media today in relation to the self-ID debate are completely incorrect.

“As minister for equalities in the department under both Penny Mordaunt and Amber Rudd I saw first hand that the position stated was absolutely not Penny Mordaunt’s and completely refute the allegations made by other candidates about the self ID debate.

“Having sat in the equalities office for many years, I am shocked to see such incorrect reporting and briefings by our colleagues and would question the motives of those seeking to do so.”

Tory MPs voted on the PM’s successor on Wednesday afternoon, with the result announced by Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, at 4pm.

The final two candidates will then be put to party members to make the final decision, with the winner announced on September 5.

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Jacob Rees-Mogg Defends Boris Johnson’s Plan To Cull 91,000 Civil Service Jobs

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Jacob Rees-Mogg has defended Boris Johnson’s plans to slash the number of civil servants by 91,000.

The government efficiency minister said the government wanted to bring the Whitehall headcount back to where it was in 2016.

He said the extra staff were brought in to help deal with the pandemic and the “aftermath of Brexit”.

Rees-Mogg told Sky News: “I know it sounds eye-catching but it’s just getting back to the civil service we had in 2016… since then we’ve had to take on people for specific tasks.

“So dealing with the aftermath of Brexit and dealing with Covid, so there’s been a reason for that increase, but we’re now trying to get back to normal.”

The minister said there was currently too much “duplication” in Whitehall, and insisted most of the jobs could be lost by not replacing the 38,000 civil servants who leave the government every year.

He said: “What I’ve seen within the Cabinet Office, which is where I work and bear in mind each secretary of state will be responsible for is or her own department, is that there’s duplication within government, so you have a communications department and then you have within another department some people doing communications.

“So it’s trying to ensure that you use the resources that you’ve got rather than duplicating it bit by bit.”

Asked why the cuts were not being described as a return to austerity, he said: “I don’t think it is because what is being done is getting back to the efficiency levels we had in 2016.”

Rees-Mogg has previously angered civil servants by leaving notes on the desks of those not in the office in an attempt to discourage working from home.

They read: “Sorry you were out when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon. Wish every good wish.”

The drive has been branded “vindictive” by Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA representing senior civil servants, who said ministers were out of step with practice in the private sector.

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‘Stop Clapping, Start Paying’: NHS Workers Demand Better Wages

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