THE Cabinet Office has saved almost £3.6 million and has made 11 redundancies, the Chief Minister has said.
Answering a question in the States Chamber yesterday, Deputy Lyndon Farnham said the savings were made “largely through reductions in staff”, citing both a recruitment freeze in government that has been in place for over a year and not filling positions when staff leave.
The Cabinet Office was told at the start of 2024 that they should review their expenditure ahead of the previous Government Plan.
Deputy Farnham said that 11 people had been made redundant in the Cabinet Office. Four of those were compulsory redundancies, the others were voluntary.
Adding to the redundancies, the government also cut staff numbers by not backfilling posts and using fewer external consultants, Deputy Farnham told the Assembly. These cuts added up to the equivalent of 32.6 full-time staff members – or 16% of the department.
The department is due to save another £1.6 million in the upcoming Budget, he added.
The civil service has been under pressure to save money and has frozen recruitment for its top ranks, having suspended hiring for grade 11 and above since August 2024, which was later extended to grade 9 and above. Grade 11 salaries start at £53,589.85 per year.
But Deputy Inna Gardiner questioned the Chief Minister about how the figures broke down, citing 11 communications officers who left last year.
These were listed as being part of the Cabinet Office despite huge cuts to the government’s communications operation last year, when its central press office shut down and 11 people were offered redeployment, redundancy or voluntary release. Four department heads were sent to work directly for their departments.
In the States yesterday, Deputy Gardiner asked Deputy Farnham: “Can the minister confirm whether of the 11 staff that left the government, are they now counted as communications officers within the departments like Education, Health and others?”
The Chief Minister replied: “The 11 reductions were all redundancies and they weren’t redistributed.”
