13 May 2005
Proposals to move hundreds of civil service staff out of the Southeast to Wales contradict the government's efficiency agenda and its aim of protecting local economies, Whitehall's largest union has claimed.
The Department for Transport's management board has recommended the relocation of its payroll function from Hastings to Swansea, as part of the government's plan to shift 20,000 civil service staff to the regions. The move could also involve the merger of the DfT's finance and procurement functions.
But the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents 300,000 civil servants, fears that relocating DfT staff from Sussex could prompt the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which currently shares its payroll function with the DfT, into moving its work out of Hastings too. The two departments employ around 220 payroll staff in Hastings.
The PCS this week branded the DfT's decision as 'inconsistent and out of kilter with government policy'.
The union claims that the Gershon efficiency agenda, which aims to slash the cost of government by £40bn by 2008, encourages departments to share common functions such as payroll. PCS leaders have also pointed out that the separate Lyons Review, which outlined plans to move civil service staff out of the Southeast, cautioned against shifting civil servants from towns that rely heavily on public bodies for employment. The PCS claims the civil service is 'the main employer' in Hastings.
Tim Murray, chair of the PCS Hastings branch committee, said: 'It makes no discernible sense, as the government looks to create efficiencies, to break up already centralised services just to reconstruct them elsewhere.
'Hastings has a critical mass of skills, experience and knowledge that could only over time be replicated elsewhere. To move jobs away would go against everything that is being done to support Hastings.'
But the DfT promised consultation with the PCS over the issue. 'As part of the Department's drive to improve efficiency, we plan to make our services in finance, HR and procurement more effective,' a spokeswoman said.
'The department has looked at a number of options, including forming a single unit for finance, HR, payroll and procurement, based in Swansea. No decision has yet been taken. We are meeting with the PCS to listen to their concerns.'
An ODPM official said the department had 'no plans to relocate staff out of Hastings'.
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