Reform UK’s plans to cut swathes of corporate functions without impacting frontline services “unrealistic”, says FDA

The FDA has responded to Reform UK’s proposals for civil service reform if the party enters government, which include plans to cut 68,500 jobs, a reduction of 13%.  

As reported by the Financial Times, Daily Mail, and Civil Service World, FDA General Secretary Dave Penman responded to the plans, which were outlined by Danny Kruger MP, saying:

“This is the first glimpse we have had into the detail of Reform UK’s plans for the civil service, and it is encouraging to see them recognise our members’ frustrations and their desire for change.

“However, the idea you can slash swathes of “corporate functions” while protecting front line services in the likes of HMRC, the Border Force, and prison service is unrealistic.

“Reform UK talk about utilising AI but want massive cuts in key areas of government that drive efficiency and effective use of resources, including digital, engineering, project management and commercial.

“If government is to become more agile, as they say they want it to be, then these are the skills that need to be invested in, not arbitrarily cut to satisfy a headline in a press release.

He continued:

“Digital, communications, and policy functions have been crucial to HMRC’s efforts to tackle the tax gap, bringing hundreds of millions of pounds of extra revenue. This is just one example of where support functions are critical to delivery on the frontline.

“Reform UK want to halve the number of policy roles in the civil service, quoting the numbers employed pre-Brexit. Any serious government would recognise the huge swathe of policy work that resulted from the UK’s exit from the EU. Having direct responsibility for that policy was part of the rationale for leaving the EU and needs people with the right skills to make it a success for the country. Serious government is about recognising the impact of decisions even when this becomes politically inconvenient.”  

Speaking during an appearance on GB News, Penman said, “The civil service responds to what our government wants. It can’t decide its own size. Ministers decide the size of the civil service. So if you’re accusing the civil service of being bloated, it’s because that’s what previous governments have done.

“You have to have a coherent plan for if you want to reduce the size of the civil service, what that means in the areas that you’re looking to cut. And I think I’m just a bit surprised, three years out potentially, from a general election… a Reform government wouldn’t even really know what it’s going to do in 2029 or 2030. It’s decided to stick a finger in the air and say ‘I know how many people are going to be employed in the civil service on that date. And we’re going to think about what the civil service was dealing with in 2016 to decide how many people it’s going to need in 2030.’ So, you can have a smaller civil service, but your plans have got to have a bit of coherence… I think that was a bit missing from today’s announcement.”