PCS condemns government plans for major civil service cuts

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has condemned the government’s plans to make major cuts to the civil service. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the exchequer, has indicated that the government intends to slash the civil service in order to make £3.5bn of savings by 2029.

PCS is the trade union which represents many civil servants.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “After 15 years of underfunding, any cuts will have an impact on frontline services.

“You hear that every day from the public, that they wait too long on the phone when they try to make tax payments, jobseekers rushed through the system in just ten minutes because there aren’t enough staff to see them, victims of crime waiting until 2027 to have their cases heard in the courts as well as the backlog in the asylum system which results in additional hotel costs.

“The impact of making cuts will not only disadvantage our members but the public we serve and the services they rely on.

“We’ve heard this before under Gordon Brown when cuts were made to backroom staff and consequences of that was chaos.

“If the last government taught us anything it’s that you can’t cut your way to growth.”

“We’re happy to engage with the government over many issues but if they don’t talk to us about what is an arbitrary figure for cuts plucked out of the air in order to make it sound like an efficiency they will meet with a lot of opposition, not just from unions but from the public who will be affected by cuts in the services they receive.”

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