Sir Keir Starmer has been warned by a trade union not to impose “blunt headcount targets” for the size of the civil service but government sources insisted there would be no set limit, although the number “cannot keep growing”.
Departments have been ordered to find 5 per cent “efficiency savings” as part of Rachel Reeves’s spending review, potentially putting jobs at risk.
There are 513,000 full-time civil servants in central government, up sharply from a recent low of about 380,000 in 2016. The Tories went into the general election promising to reduce numbers by 70,000 to fund extra defence spending.
Any reduction under Labour would be more modest, with The Guardian reporting more than 10,000 jobs could be lost.
Denne historien er fra December 12, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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Denne historien er fra December 12, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
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Absurd image that sums up Fifa's 'tinpot dictatorship'
Miguel Delaney explains how the Gianni Infantino-led endeavour to hand Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup finals perfectly encapsulated the depths to which football has sunk
Liverpool spoilt for choice in battle to look after No 1
The big screen in the corner of the quaint Estadi Montilivi displayed some pre-match entertainment.
City slump to defeat and Champions League peril
It amounts to miserable seven for Pep Guardiola.
Sublime Saka scores brace as Gunners boss Monaco
Bukayo Saka continues to show the way, as well as new levels. Arsenal have recently been a team in need of a bit of stability and sense of comfort, and this 3-0 win over AS Monaco duly offered them a straight line into the Champions League last 16.
Boots owner in negotiations with US private equity firm
Walgreens, the US-based owner of Boots, is in talks to sell itself to a private equity company, casting uncertainty over the future of the venerable high street chain.
Ukrainian women pulled alive from rubble seven hours after Russian strike
Rescue crews working through the night have pulled two Ukrainian women from the rubble more than seven hours after a Russian missile struck a private medical clinic in southern Zaporizhzhia city, killing six people and injuring 22 others, Ukraine’s emergency services said.
Putin helped Assad escape Syria via Russian airbase
Russian intelligence agents persuaded Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria for Moscow, having become convinced that he would lose against the insurgents rapidly advancing on Damascus, sources have said.
Syrians vow to rebuild their town after Assad's brutality
Bel Trew in Jobar, north of Damascus, meets residents returning home for the first time in more than a decade
British teenager jailed in Dubai over holiday romance
A British teenager has been jailed in Dubai for having sex with a 17-year-old girl while the pair were on holiday.
NHS patient awarded £70k after drug made him gamble
The NHS has paid out tens of thousands to a man who developed an “uncontrollable” gambling problem after he was given a common Parkinson’s drug, The Independent can reveal.
