28 January 2005
Scottish Executive permanent secretary John Elvidge has confirmed that civil service jobs will be lost in Scotland as part of the Gershon efficiency review.
He told the Scottish Parliament's finance committee this week that the reduction would be concentrated on the central parts of the organisation.
Speaking later, Elvidge explained that substantial sums of money had already been saved by the more efficient use of buildings and energy.
However, he did not think it would be possible to achieve the real-terms' 6% efficiency target set for the Executive from these areas alone. He added: 'There will have to be some reductions in the number of staff.'
Elvidge told the committee the Executive now employed 4,457 staff compared with 3,500 in 1997 — two years before devolution.
In addition, a large number of Scottish civil servants are employed in non-devolved areas, such as the Inland Revenue and the Department for Work and Pensions. It is expected that these departments could be hardest hit by cuts.
PFjan2005
