The newly-appointed Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, Jacob Rees-Mogg says he wants to cut the United Kingdom’s Public Service by “a minimum” of 65,000 jobs.
Under that minimum number, one in seven officials would have to go.
In a recent interview, Mr Rees-Mogg (pictured) questioned whether the current Public Service headcount was providing value for the taxpayer and pledged to fulfil former Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude’s legacy of reforming and cutting the size of the bureaucracy.
Under Lord Maude, the Public Service shrank from around 470,000 full-time officials in 2010 to about 384,000 just before the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union.
However, as the UK grappled with leaving the European Union and then the COVID-19 pandemic, the reduction was reversed; reaching 472,000 last year.
Mr Rees-Mogg said he’s determined to get the headcount “under control”.
“Every person working for the Civil Service has to be paid for by the taxpayer,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.
“So you’ve got to think, is this providing value?” he asked.
“Is it doing something that needs to be done?
“Is it doing it in the most efficient way?”
Mr Rees-Mogg referred to former United States President, Ronald Reagan’s quote: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.”
“What we should be saying to ourselves every day is are we making the lives of the British people better?” the Minister asked.
“Do we make them better by employing large numbers of Civil Servants?”
“The answer is probably no because the British public helps pay for them…Yes, there have been exceptional reasons why you’ve needed more in the last couple of years, but those reasons are coming to an end,” he said.
Mr Rees-Mogg, the former Leader of the House of Commons, was appointed to his new role in Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s mini-reshuffle last month, giving him responsibility for the Public Service reform program as well as the domestic elements of Brexit.
London, 24 February 2022
