Sir Keir Starmer risks a new showdown with civil servants this week over plans to cull the jobs of second-rate Sir Humphreys.
The Prime Minister is set to unveil proposals to sack under-performing mandarins as well as link the pay of some top officials to specific work targets.
Officials who can’t perform at the level required will be ‘incentivised to leave their jobs’ – in effect, paid to quit.
Last night, Government sources insisted the plans would save money in the long run by improving the quality of the Civil Service overall.
It comes three months after Sir Keir angered public sector trade unions for claiming too many Whitehall officials were ‘comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline’.
Last night, Labour MPs were braced for a backlash, as one said: ‘Getting the best out of public servants is a good idea but you don’t do it by threatening them with the sack.’
Tory MPs also doubted Sir Keir’s commitment to take on the so-called public sector ‘Blob’, noting that just days after his ‘tepid bath’ attack in December the PM appeared to row back by issuing a gushing letter to civil servants praising their ‘dedication and professionalism’.
However, Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, vowed to ‘stop the carousel of people being shuffled from job to job, with performance issues never being dealt with’.
The Prime Minister is set to unveil proposals to sack under-performing mandarins as well as link the pay of some top officials to specific work targets
Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, vowed to ‘stop the carousel of people being shuffled from job to job, with performance issues never being dealt with’
Mr McFadden will say that while the number of people working in Whitehall departments had increased people had yet to see improvements (stock image)
Mr McFadden said: ‘Civil servants consistently say their work is impacted because poor performance isn’t dealt with appropriately – that is going to change.
‘They want to turn up each day to deliver for people, be free to use their talents and not be faced with poor leadership or lack of accountability.’
This week’s moves are being billed as the latest steps in Labour’s ‘Plan For Change’ programme in a bid to reshape the British state.
And Mr McFadden will say that while the number of people working in Whitehall departments had increased by 15,000 since 2023, people had yet to see improvements in job opportunities, the safety of their neighbourhoods or the length of time they have to wait for NHS treatment.
He will unveil plans to:
- Introduce private sector-style ‘Mutually Agreed Exits’, where civil servants without the skills and performance required will be incentivised to leave their jobs, instead of going through lengthy formal processes.
- Quickly weed out underperformance among the highest-paid civil servants, with those who do not meet the standards required to be put on a ‘Personal Development Plan’, with a view to dismissing them if they do not improve in six months.
- Set out a new pay-by-results system, making sure the most senior officials responsible for the Government’s ‘Missions’ have their wages linked to the outcomes they achieve.
