THE government’s chief executive has said seven senior civil servant roles have been scrapped since he took on the post resulting in a saving of £1.2 million.
In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee, Dr Andrew McLaughlin outlined the removal of multiple chief officer and director posts.
The government chief executive also confirmed that there are no plans for a “fundamental review and restructure of the civil service”.
He was responding to questions from PAC chair Deputy Inna Gardiner around recent government restructuring.
Scrutineers have demanded to know how much redundancies, new hires and consultancy fees have cost the public purse.
In response, Dr McLaughlin explained that seven senior posts have been removed since he took up his role:
- Chief education officer and director for education
- Chief of staff
- Director of delivery and improvement, Cabinet Office
- Director of financial crime strategy
- Director of improvement and transformation, CYPES
- Group director, Customer Services
- Group director, Economy
He confirmed that redundancy payments for three of the removed roles totalled just over £250,000 – but said that the “positive financial impact” of removing the positions was a “re-occurring saving” of £1,194,101.
Dr McLaughlin added: “There have been two ‘acting up’ payments for the interim chief officers of CYPES and the Cabinet Office.
“There were no additional consultancy fees in relation to these roles.”
He explained that “further savings” are being made by Cabinet Office chief officer Tom Walker being seconded to the Health chief officer role – but open recruitment for this post is due to take place “in due course”.
“The changes discussed in this letter are consistent with the mandate given to me,” wrote Dr McLaughlin.
“That is, to curb the rate of growth in headcount, to prune senior roles from the structure of the service where possible, to prioritise savings in central functions over customer service areas and to open up opportunities for existing colleagues to develop by placing less reliance on external recruitment.”
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham previously identified the Cabinet Office, communications department, and senior and middle management roles as areas for potential staffing reductions as part of efforts to control public sector spending.
A nine-month recruitment freeze for civil servants across the public sector earning £66,000 or more was announced in August 2024 as part of a drive to slash millions from the annual public-sector wage bill.
At the time, Deputy Farnham stressed that the freeze would not affect recruitment to essential front-line roles, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and the uniformed services.
