Eight senior Gov redundancies save more than £500k

Wednesday 11 September 2024

The government has saved £552,000 so far this year by making eight senior public sector positions redundant, an Assistant Minister has revealed.

Further job losses within the "upper tiers of management" are planned as part of a government drive to curb public sector growth and reduce payroll spending.

Speaking during yesterday's States Assembly meeting, Deputy Malcolm Ferey said upcoming job losses would target positions at 'grade 11' and above.

Pictured: Deputy Malcolm Ferey is Vice Chair of the States Employment Board, which is the statutory body responsible for the employment of civil servants. 

The Assistant Minister, who is also Vice Chair of the States Employment Board, said: “The savings are targeted at grade 11 and above, so it will be the upper tiers of management so that we'll end up with a flatter management structure throughout the throughout the organisation.”

Deputy Ferey also confirmed that the £552,000 in savings have primarily come from the Office of the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Office. 

He added that as of 31 August, no redundancies had been made in the Communications Department, which is focusing on redeployment.

Since stepping up as Chief Minister in January, Deputy Lyndon Farnham has repeatedly talked about “curbing” spending in the public sector and “re-sizing” the Cabinet Office. 

He previously indicated that areas such as the Cabinet Office, Communications Department, and senior and middle management roles could be targeted for "re-sizing."

Pictured: Deputy Farnham has made his opinions on the Cabinet Office, and its growth, known.

While no specific target for job cuts has been set, Deputy Ferey said that the focus is on saving £15 million - a figure agreed upon in the Common Strategic Policy, which outlines the government's top priorities for the coming years.

Deputy Ferey also revealed that the government has issued £330,000 in redundancy payments — ranging from £9,000 to £115,000 per individual.

The Vice-Chair added that the government plans to prioritise voluntary redundancies and redeployment of existing staff to maintain essential services. 

A nine-month recruitment freeze has also been implemented to prevent rehiring redundant staff and support internal redeployment.

Deputy Ferey explained: “We will be looking at redundancies on a voluntary basis, and that that is the first plan of attack.

“Where someone does decide to leave, we will seek to redeploy from within existing resources to fill those positions. 

“We also, of course, have a recruitment freeze for a period of nine months to ensure that we don't take on any more staff whilst we're trying to rearrange the current staff that we have.”