Under-performing civil servants to be pushed out

Telegraph

08-03-2025

Poorly-performing civil servants will be pushed out of government under radical plans to shrink the size of the state.
Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, will warn that the public sector is 'not match fit' and currently 'unable to deliver', despite the number of officials ballooning to a 20-year high.
On Monday, he will unveil major reforms to slash the number of officials in Whitehall by offering poorly-performing mandarins cash payments to leave their jobs.
The reforms will form the backbone of a drive to cut spending on bureaucracy and redirect the savings towards front-line services such as the police and the NHS.
It comes with Rachel Reeves poised to announce significant public spending cuts this month to balance the books and make sure she meets her fiscal rules. The Chancellor has told departments they will need to ensure major efficiencies to avert further damaging tax rises.
Mr McFadden, who is so close to Sir Keir Starmer that he is known as the de facto deputy prime minister, will unveil Whitehall reforms to reprioritise spending. He will announce the creation of a private sector style 'mutually agreed exits' scheme.
In a memo to his Cabinet last month Sir Keir railed against the 'slowness and lethargy baked into the system' saying the public 'are hungry for change and disruption'.
The programme will offer cash incentives to civil servants to quit, meaning that it could lead to a temporary spike in the bill for redundancy payments. But in the longer term it is expected to save much more in a permanently lower Whitehall wage bill.
Mr McFadden would not put a number on how many mandarins he planned to shed, but he is believed to want to reduce the headcount by at least 10,000.
The number of civil servants hit 515,000 at the end of last year, which is the highest figure since 2006 and not far off the Blair-era peak of 534,000. It has grown by more than 100,000 since the start of Covid and by 131,000 since 2016, when Whitehall was at its smallest in years.
Mr McFadden is expected to argue that, despite the explosion in the number of mandarins, 'working people have not seen improvements' to their daily lives.
Laying the ground for the announcement, he said on Saturday: 'The state is not match fit to rise to the moment our country faces. It is a too common feeling in working people's lives that the system doesn't work for them.
'With our mandate for change, this Government will fundamentally reshape how the state delivers for people. Our plan for the Civil Service is one where every official is high-performing and focused on delivery.
'To do this, we must ensure that we go further to ensure those brilliant people who can deliver are incentivised and rewarded, and those who can't are able to move on. The changes will result in a more focused and productive Civil Service and more efficient delivery of the change working people need.'
Mr McFadden will announce reforms to 'quickly weed out' under-performers among the highest-paid civil servants to improve Whitehall leadership. Those deemed not up to scratch will be put on development plans and, if they do not improve within six months, will face the sack.
The Cabinet Office minister is also expected to praise most mandarins for doing a good job and say they have been hampered by bureaucratic processes. His reforms will seek to incentivise high performers with a new 'pay by results' system, meaning those officials who deliver will receive higher wages.
They will be the first in a series of high-profile policy announcements from ministers in the run up to Ms Reeves's Spring Statemtn on March 26.
Angela Rayner is expected to unveil fresh reforms to the delivery of new housing, and Wes Streeting will focus on how to improve productivity in the NHS.
On Thursday, Sir Keir will outline how the Government plans to get more value for taxpayers' money from the state. Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, is expected to deliver a speech in the coming weeks unveiling huge savings in the welfare budget.