The United Kingdom Government has reiterated its determination to cut Public Service jobs, at the same time as more than 100,000 workers prepare to strike at the end of April.
Junior Minister at the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart told members of Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee that while no headline figure for the number of Public Service jobs to go had been given, this did not mean there was no need for cuts.
Mr Burghart (pictured) was giving evidence to the same inquiry into the Government’s future estate needs that his boss, Oliver Dowden addressed in January.
Then, Mr Dowden told MPs that while former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s plans for roughly 91,000 job cuts over the decade had been dropped in favour of a focus on efficiency outcomes, the spectre of job losses had not receded.
Mr Burghart was asked directly for the Government’s current target for job cuts, and the timeframe in which they were expected to be delivered.
“There is no target,” Mr Burghart said.
“Government absolutely always is looking for efficiencies. Those efficiencies come in a plethora of different ways,” he said.
“I don’t believe that there will be a numerical target set.
“We will look at many and various ways of saving money and creating efficiencies, but we’re not saying we have to reduce headcount by a certain figure.”
Meanwhile, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said its more than 133,000 members would go on strike on 28 April at the end of a month of various types of industrial action.
PCS members are taking industrial action over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security, with workers in the Passport Office going on strike for five weeks until 6 May.
The PCS previously held a strike of workers from across 123 Departments and Agencies on 15 March.
General Secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka said his members were not backing down.
“Ministers need to take notice that we’re escalating our action and they need to resolve the dispute by putting money on the table,” Mr Serwotka said.
London, 29 March 2023
