Boris Johnson’s plan to cut more than 90,000 civil servants from public salaries over the next three years risks having “adverse effects”, a leaked government note acknowledged.
Confidential guidelines issued to Whitehall departments by the Financial Times say managers need to mitigate the effects of layoffs “as much as possible,” but acknowledges that some departments may need to reduce their plans.
“As far as possible, departments should seek to mitigate any adverse impacts on public service delivery and broader government priorities. However, it is acknowledged that in some cases, departments will have to consider changing priorities, “the note said.
Johnson announced a promise to cut the number of civil servants last month, a move backed by the Conservative right-wing move that helped achieve the prime minister’s small victory in Monday’s no-confidence vote.
In a speech aimed at resetting his administration, Johnson said the decision to “cut off” Whitehall departments could be reached “without compromising the public services they provide.”
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However, senior Whitehall officials said talks on “reorienting priorities” point to the inevitability of cuts to public services at a time when the cost of living crisis is boosting demand.
One of them said that it was “impossible” to ensure such a sharp reduction in the number of employees by 2024-2025, while maintaining all first-line services, such as prisons, probation, border checks, work and processing centers. of passports and driver’s licenses, at current levels.
“It is believed that the government of the day has the perfect right to shrink the country to the size it sees fit, but it cannot avoid the consequences,” said an insider working on the cuts.
The document, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet, instructs departments to provide a detailed prospectus for 20, 30 and 40 staff cuts by June 30. The final decisions are expected in the fall.
The note also explicitly states that there are no areas that are prohibited: “There are no civil servants or groups of civil servants who are exempt from these returns, regardless of the work they do.”
About half of government officials provide first-line services, and four out of five are based outside London. The average salary is £ 40,109.82 and the government says it hopes to secure immediate savings of £ 3.5 billion by shrinking the civil service back to 2016 levels.
The government currently employs 475,000 civil servants, compared to a low of 384,000 in 2016. The biggest growth since then has been in the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labor and Pensions.
Lord Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service during austerity cuts, said the cuts would have lasting effects.
“We have huge accumulations in the passport service, in the criminal justice system, huge delays in the courts and for driver’s licenses, we have huge accumulations. If you cut [frontline services] “Besides, I don’t think we’ll see a recovery,” he said.
The Institute for Government think tank said the cuts required roughly the same levels of staff reductions, implemented over six years of austerity but only half the time.
Rhys Klein, a senior researcher at IfG, said the reductions could not be achieved through the painless effectiveness of back office roles.
“They will have to include some front-line roles in the scope of the cuts. “They will also have to include back office roles that the government has said it wants to prioritize,” he said.
Experts warned that the return to pre-Brexit levels came as Brexit and government policies called for an increase in government salaries, for example for staff in five new prisons, which ministers say will be needed after 20,000 police officers are recruited.
Jonathan Slater, a former permanent secretary of state, said that if the prisoner-to-staff ratio was reduced, “you get more violence, more suicides and more drugs in prison.”
A government spokesman said: “It is crucial that all aspects of taxpayer spending demonstrate efficiency and value for money. It was right to expand the civil service to ensure Brexit and deal with the pandemic, but now we need to return it to the staffing levels of 2016, and we have asked all government departments to determine how this can be achieved.
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