Civil service job cuts ‘will save £10m. a year’
AMBITIOUS plans to shed 200 civil service posts and save at least £10m. a year have been unveiled by the States chief executive.
This year’s Budget contains a bid for £8m. in funding to help transform the operating model and break down silos that are wasting public money.
Paul Whitfield has today published an open letter outlining reforms that he describes as bold.
‘We need to be structured in a way that is more efficient, that removes the silos that still exist despite our success to date, and that allows us to truly work as one organisation – all of which will help us better serve the public, which is our absolute focus,’ he said.
‘As such, I have decided to make significant changes to the leadership structure at the top of the civil service before the end of 2018.’
A new civil service leadership team will comprise of six roles, rather than the current 13, who will be responsible for broad, high level areas such as finance or policies that relate to people.
They will offer policy advice across the different committees as necessary.
The chief secretary role will be removed.
This leadership team will, by the end of 2020, implement a fundamental redesign of the entire civil service.
‘This will be supported by the two related activities of: the delayering of the civil service and reduction in the number of senior civil servants; [and] the redesign of all processes and services which will involve digitising services and a reduction in the number of more junior posts,’ said Mr Whitfield.
‘This redesign will result in the targeted removal of more than 200 civil service posts – it is important to emphasise this specific programme does not include teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers, social workers or other public sector workers.’
He said that significant financial benefits will be delivered over 2019 and 2020 of at least a recurring £10m. a year.
The £8m. will be used to run the civil service redesign programme, including a targeted voluntary redundancy scheme.
‘We currently have in the region of 1,600 civil servants. A reduction of more than 200 posts is significant, but achievable. We know that Guernsey currently has many vacancies in the private sector, and we’ll be releasing skilled staffed into the island’s workforce.
‘If we do this the right way – by truly redesigning how we deliver services, by maximising technology and by delayering the senior civil service – then the benefits will be felt by us, by our customers, in the public purse, by the political body and by the wider economy.’
