Target for civil service job cuts scrapped

A 91,000 target for job cuts in the civil service introduced during Boris Johnson's tenure has been scrapped by Rishi Sunak.

Departments have been ordered to find efficient savings instead.

The government is trying to fill a finance gap of around £50 billion and has warned of spending cuts and tax rises.

The government has said job cuts were needed, but has not said how many.

When Jacob Rees-Mogg was a Cabinet Office minister under Boris Johnson, he was working towards this target. A letter was sent to civil servants informing them of the aim to return to 2016 staffing levels within three years.

In 2016, there were 384,000 civil servants, the lowest number since the Second World War. Due to Brexit, these numbers rose to 475,000 last year.

In a letter to civil servants, Sunak said: "Together, we must make sure every taxpayer pound goes as far as it possibly can.

"I do not believe that top-down targets for Civil Service headcount reductions are the right way to do that.

"Instead, the chancellor and I will be asking every government department to look for the most effective ways to secure value and maximise efficiency within budgets so that we can use taxpayers' money sustainably in the long term."

On Twitter, Trades Union Congress said: "Big win for civil servant trade unions."

Image: Pixabay