01 April 2004
Whitehall's union leaders have asked ministers to clarify the nature and extent of job cuts and relocations urgently, following the Lyons review and the chancellor's Budget statement.
Civil service unions are seeking assurances from the Treasury and Cabinet Office that future announcements on compulsory job cuts and relocations to the regions will not come 'out of left field', as happened with Gordon Brown's Budget revelations.
Public Finance understands that leaders of the Public and Commercial Services union and representatives of senior mandarins have held a series of meetings with Cabinet Office minister Douglas Alexander over the past two weeks to outline their concerns.
Union leaders were angered by the timing of - and lack of consultation over - the Lyons Review, which recommended the relocation of up to 20,000 Whitehall staff to the regions, leaked details of the Gershon Review of the civil service and Brown's own efficiency savings and job cut targets for departments.
In his Budget speech on March 17, Brown outlined 40,500 job losses at three departments alone. Whitehall unions fear many more will follow the Spending Review this summer, because the Chancellor has also declared a target of 2.5% efficiency savings at every department by 2008.
One union source said: 'The lack of consultation, or advance warning, over what is likely to bring a raft of additional job cuts just goes to show how the government simply wants to highlight this for political reasons.
'They are not acting as responsible employers. We now have a situation where staff are, quite literally, hanging on to every word leaked to the press because their jobs are at stake.'
However, senior mandarins have been warned that they are unlikely to know exact details of job cuts and relocations until after this summer's Spending Review, because departments do not yet have the money allocated to handle any changeover.
Moreover, they have not calculated exactly how many jobs must be shed to meet the savings targets. The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, is pressing for continual dialogue with Alexander and the Treasury, and more transparency from departments, as this process unfolds.
Jonathan Baume, FDA general secretary, said: 'There's so much more work to be done, but this situation should become a lot clearer over the next few weeks.'
PCS embroiled in internal rows as Gershon looms
The Public and Commercial Services union has again become embroiled in a bitter internal dispute over elections to senior posts.
Forthcoming elections to the deputy general secretary and assistant general secretary positions have led to accusations of political dogma and sabotage as the traditional split between the Left and Right-wing factions of the union has re-emerged.
It is the first time the 288,000-member organisation, currently embroiled in a pay dispute with employers, has elected its deputies.
Nominations closed last week and it appears the Left-wing candidates – Hugh Lanning, current AGS, and Chris Baugh – will battle 'moderates' Graham Steel and Dave Newlyn for the posts.
Tensions have already been heightened by accusations from Steel and Newlyn that their opponents have been caught up 'in the tiny world of PCS politics', while events such as the Gershon and Lyons reviews have overtaken them and threatened thousands of Whitehall jobs.
On their website, Steel and Newlyn also claim that they were aware of ministers' plans to merge the Inland Revenue with Customs and Excise, claiming the union's leaders were 'caught napping' by the announcement.
The pair also claimed their website and e-mail addresses have been 'bombarded' with viruses in a bid to 'derail' their campaign.
It would not be the first time that in-fighting has marred PCS elections. Current general secretary, Mark Serwotka, fought a long-running legal battle with his moderate predecessor, Barry Reamsbottom, after the former won a 2000 leadership vote. Reamsbottom attempted to veto the result, but the High Court ruled in favour of Serwotka.
One senior PCS insider told Public Finance 'a bitter and public spat is the last thing the union needs when it is facing threats like the ongoing pay dispute and the implications of the Gershon and Lyons reviews.'
PRP works on staff in jobcentres, report finds
Team-based performance-related pay schemes have had a positive impact on the civil service, according to research by the University of Bristol.
A study published by the university's Centre for Market and Public Organisation on March 31 indicates that there was a greater increase in people finding work through JobCentre Plus offices operating under PRP schemes than through 'non-incentivised' ones.
But author Simon Burgess warns that such schemes need to be carefully designed, particularly in terms of how the PRP team is defined, if they are to be successful.
'In general, the smaller the team, the more powerful the incentive effect,' the report, Incentives in the public sector, claims.
The CMPO assessed the impact of a team-based PRP system introduced in 1,300 Jobcentre Plus offices during 2002/03.
The average effect was an 11% increase in the number of people put into jobs in PRP districts, but success varied according to the size of the office and the number of offices in a district.
However, the study suggests 'the scheme has no impact on customer service'.
PFapr2004
