Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden has told the BBC the central civil service would become smaller under radical new reforms.
Under-performing civil servants could be incentivised to leave their jobs while senior staff will have their pay linked to their performance, as part of government plans expected to be unveiled this week.
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, McFadden did not commit to reducing the overall civil service headcount by a specific figure, but said the government’s approach would be radical and look to get “bang for our buck”.
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour’s plans were “weak and anaemic” compared to what his party had been planning.
He also said the previous Conservative government, in which he served, had made a mistake in letting the civil service get “too big”.
The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, accused the government of delivering a “soundbite, not a credible plan for change”, describing the plans as a “retreading of failed narratives”.
In a system designed to give employers the tools to deal with bad performance, McFadden has promised a new “mutually agreed exits” process, that will incentivise civil servants performing below their requirements to leave their jobs.
Meanwhile, under-performing senior civil servants will be put on development plans, with the possibility of being sacked if there is no improvement within six months.
McFadden has said the most senior officials will have their pay linked to performance outcomes.
The plans will also see one in 10 civil servants employed in a digital or data role within five years, to be delivered through apprenticeships and retraining staff.
Currently there are 25,000 digital and data civil servants, making up 5% of the civil service workforce.
Asked if he wanted more civil servants to return to office working, McFadden said he personally thought there was “value to being in the office” and it was “generally a good thing”.
Asked if the government was copying Elon Musk’s efforts to reduce the US state, McFadden said: “Performance management is part of every big organisation, but it’s an important thing for you and your viewers to remember: we’re a centre-left government.
“We believe in good public provision, that’s why we fought the election, saying we wanted to have more teachers in schools, more neighbourhood police officers, why we wanted to get waiting lists down.
“That will guide us in our actions, it’s up front in our policies, so we will be radical about this, but it’s about getting bang for our buck in terms of the outcomes for the public, it isn’t an ideological approach to stripping back the state.”
After a bumpy start in government for Labour, ministers clearly believe the civil service needs to be not just leaner, but more agile.
With the party still struggling in the polls, McFadden has recognised too many people do not believe the system works for them, so he wants to redirect resources from the backrooms to frontline services.
He avoided setting a figure on how big the civil service should be arguing it “narrows the discussion too much” but did say the central civil service “would and can become smaller”.
He added he wanted to see more civil servants working outside London “where the state can get better value for money”.
But Dave Penman, general secretary of the civil servants union FDA, said: “If the government is serious about transforming public services they must set out what the substance of reform looks like, not just the retreading of failed ideas and narratives.”
He added meaningful reform “must put substance before headlines”, and that if McFadden wanted civil servants to focus on delivery – while government departments simultaneously cut resources – “ministers need to set realistic priorities”.
“[The] government should get on with the difficult job of setting those priorities rather than announcing a new performance management process for civil servants every other month,” Mr Penman explained.
Mike Clancy, head of the Prospect union which represents more than 32,000 civil servants, said: “Nobody would say the civil service is perfect, and our members are willing partners in reform, but this government must end the tradition of treating the civil service as a political punchbag.
“A serious reform agenda must start not from blunt headcount targets, but from an appraisal of the specialist skills needed in areas like science and data, and a realisation that the current pay system does not compete with the private sector for these skills.”
In 2016, the civil service headcount stood at 384,000 – the lowest level since World War Two.
However, over the past decade that number has steadily risen, with the Institute for Government (IfG) think tank putting the figure for 2024 at 515,085.
The rise was partly driven by Brexit and making preparations for the UK to leave the EU, and the government’s response to the Covid pandemic.
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