Liz Truss launched a ‘war on Whitehall’s waste’ today, as she pledged to cut £11bn a year, including ending national wage agreements for NHS staff, police and teachers and the cuts of hundreds of jobs aimed at increasing diversity in the civil service.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs will also save £2bn by cutting public sector workers’ holiday pay from 27 to 25 days and calculating pay based on where they live in the UK.
But a statement from her team revealed that up to £8.8 billion of the savings would come from pay cuts for public sector workers living outside the south east of England.
Her aides said these were the potential savings if the system were introduced to “all” public sector workers, suggesting that the salaries of teachers, nurses and police officers were in the firing line.
The Truss team responded back, saying the changes, implemented by regional payroll boards, will ensure pay accurately reflects where officials work and will prevent local businesses from being priced out of the labor market.
Liz Truss said: “As Prime Minister, I will lead a leaner, more efficient, more focused Whitehall that prioritizes the things that really matter to people and is laser-focused on frontline services. There’s too much bureaucracy and old groupthink in Whitehall.’
Liz Truss launched a ‘war on Whitehall waste’ today, as she pledged to cut £11bn a year
Her proposals received a furious response from a major civil servants’ union, which vowed to oppose her plans “at every step”.
Ms Truss said: ‘As Prime Minister I will lead a leaner, more efficient, more focused Whitehall that prioritizes the things that really matter to people and is laser-focused on frontline services.
“There’s too much bureaucracy and old groupthink in Whitehall. When I get to Downing Street, I will put an end to that and lead a government relentlessly focused on providing services to the British public and providing value to hard-working taxpayers.
“I have shown in my tenure that I am ready to tackle the Whitehall orthodoxy and get things done.
“The British people can rely on me to deliver on my promises and address the cost of living immediately.”
The Truss campaign argued that because civil servant salaries are negotiated at the national level, the regional cost of living is not taken into account.
By introducing regional governments, civil servants’ salaries can be adjusted according to the actual areas where they work, saving taxpayers billions, but also ensuring that private employers are not ‘drowned’ by higher wages in the public sector.
Savings could be increased by bringing more civil servants out of London.
About £2bn would be saved by reducing the average civil service leave entitlement from 27 days to 25 days in industry and private services.
Cutting diversity officers in Whitehall would save around £12million a year – Mrs Truss’ campaign said there are at least 326 of the positions in government departments.
Jacob Rees-Mogg backed the plans today, saying the jobs were created by the “wake for awake.”
Facility time, under which union representatives are given paid leave to focus on union work, would be banned – as would the use of grants, offices and equipment – saving up to £137 million, according to the Truss campaign.
The package of measures that Ms Truss has mapped out will probably meet strong resistance from the Civil Service Unions if she tries to implement it from No. 10.
A campaign source said: “Liz is a low-tax, petty state conservative with a distrust of big government. She will shake up Whitehall and take the radical steps needed to tackle the waste and inefficiencies that lie at the heart of government.
“She will make sure every official knows his or her job about keeping the commitments in the 2019 manifesto and the things the public cares about.”
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, said: “If Liz Truss is elected, and if she tries to push through with these proposals, she will face opposition every step of the way.
“Officials are not a political tool to be used and abused for one person’s ambition; they are the hardworking people who keep the country running day in and day out and they deserve respect.’
Prospect Union secretary general Mike Clancy said: “Liz Truss has smashed her own government’s record in recent weeks. Judging by this bland attempt to make headlines favorable to her selectorship, she is planning more of the same economically illiterate and abusive ideological nonsense that this administration has spawned in recent years.”
Deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner condemned Ms Truss’s plans, saying: “This aspiring Prime Minister is stuck in the past, fighting old battles and promising a race to the bottom on wages and rights for public sector workers.
Her ‘tailor-made’ wage plans would lower the wages of northerners, further widening the existing gap. This out-of-touch government’s commitment to leveling is dead.’