Unions outraged at Brown's civil service cuts

Gordon Brown's plans to cut 104,000 civil service jobs have outraged unions, who are mooting strike action to derail measures they believe will destroy the quality of public services.

The huge cuts announced in the Chancellor's spending review yesterday, which includes 40,000 jobs axed in the last budget, will also see 20,000 go in devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said he was very concerned at the "sudden escalation" in the jobs reduction.

"These cuts cannot be made without hitting the quality of public services. They will deal civil service morale a bitter blow just as staff support is needed for change," he said.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, the largest civil service trade union, said it could not rule out industrial action as the jobs axe would be "devastating" for Britain's public services.

PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: "Job cuts on this scale spell carnage for public services. When this government was elected they imposed the windfall tax to pay for initiatives like the New Deal, now they are using their own workforce to pay for their policies. How are the government going to deliver their promises on tax credits, winter fuel payments, immigration and closing tax loopholes in the face of such devastating cuts?"

He added: "The Chancellor's announcement on clamping down on sick absence comes as a double whammy. For the government to imply its own workforce are shirking is just another a slap in the face. In light of such attacks on hardworking civil servants we will be consulting our members, taking our case to the wider trade union movement and to the users of public services in order to mount the most vigorous defence of our members' jobs. We cannot rule out industrial action in the face of such a serious attack."

The Chancellor's proposals were also condemned by the First Division Association (FDA), the union representing senior public sector managers and professionals.

FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume said that while the union supported greater efficiency of the civil service and backed the premise behind Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review, the union said that there were serious implications for the civil servants caught up in a politically-motivated "jobs lottery".

He said: "This is a very retrograde way of approaching efficiency, which seems more aimed at generating politically beneficial headlines than creating a better equipped civil service. We had hoped that focusing on crude numbers-cutting was an approach abandoned 20 years ago."

Business leaders were broadly in favour of the Chancellor's plans. The Institute of Directors (IoD) said that while the headcount loss was "welcome and long overdue", it did not add to the reform process.

Graeme Leach, Chief Economist at the IoD, said that genuine structural reform should be accompanied by "more choice and competition in health and education".

"Targets for tackling waste are all very well, but the real test will be in the implementation. The Chancellor needs to go much further than today's pre-election rhetoric. We need real reform, not just relocation," he said.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) applauded Gordon Brown for targeting public spending "more effectively" and for announcing a "radical and courageous" efficiency programme.

However, Digby Jones, CBI Director-General, warned that business would adopt "a 'we'll-believe-it-when-we-see-it' attitude".

"Mr Brown still has to face down vested interests in the trade unions and civil service. He must introduce a credible system for measuring efficiency transparently if business confidence is to be maintained," he said.

(gmcg)