Thousands of civil service jobs at risk as Treasury drives down headcount
As many as 40,000 pandemic-related civil service jobs could be cut as the Treasury tries to limit departments’ soaring headcount.
As reported by the Telegraph, this culling will focus on the Department of Health, as well as Brexit related roles that are no longer needed.
It comes after the number of civil servants has jumped by more than a fifth to 485,000 in the past seven years.
The Department of Health in particular has seen a 40 per cent headcount boost since the start of the pandemic, according to the IfG.
A government source told the paper that the cuts will target roles that focus on “bureaucratic aspects” of work rather than frontline workers.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said in March that the government has longer term plans to get the civil service headcount to 2019/20 levels by 2024/25.
According to the Telegraph, this would be the equivalent to axing around 40,000 jobs.
“Through a scrupulous focus on efficiencies, more streamlined processes, and a better matching of our people to our priorities, we will bring civil service headcount down to sustainable levels for the longer term, and this will be a focus of the years leading up to the next Spending Review”, Clarke said in a speech.
Alongside these plans, the government is also moving forward with its “levelling up” programme, shifting more and more jobs out of the capital.