Jacob Rees-Mogg has defended plans to axe 91,000 civil service jobs and pledged to move more staff from London to the North East.
The Tory minister, who met with local civil servants on a visit to Newcastle on Thursday, said the Government wanted to “get back to a proper level of efficiency” as it aims to cut staffing back to 2016 levels over the next three years. The plan to cut one in five civil service jobs has prompted talk of strike action from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, while there have also been warnings that it will worsen backlogs in frontline services including the Passport Office and DVLA.
Responding to the criticism, Mr Rees-Mogg told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Reducing by 91,000 simply gets us back to where we were in 2016. In 2016 the DVLA was working perfectly well and the Passport Office was working perfectly well. It is making sure the systems get back to a proper level of efficiency.
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“You have seen with the DVLA in particular that where it is possible to get an online service, which is available for some but not all parts of updating your licence, those have continued to be turned around pretty quickly. Where it needs physical intervention is where it is subject to delays and that is down to a number of factors like industrial action, strikes, and working from home.
“It is clear there is more you can do with technology to improve things and you can do that with fewer numbers. The same applies to the Passport Office, there is a lot more you can do with technology.”
The PCS union has accused the Government of a “disgraceful lack of respect” for staff after the job cuts were made public via the media and said that departments “needed more staff and resources not less”.
Mr Rees-Mogg, the minister in charge of efficiency, was on Tyneside on Thursday to speak to local civil servants in an event at Northumbria University. He pledged to “keep on the pressure to move civil servants out of London”, with Defra planning to move some staff to Newcastle and hundreds of Government jobs having been moved to Darlington.
Asked if moving thousands of HMRC staff from offices in Longbenton and Washington into a new £155m complex under construction in Newcastle city centre by 2027 was the most efficient option at a time when many people now wish to work from home, Mr Rees-Mogg said it would lead to cost savings.
He told the LDRS: “I think having a central hub leads to savings, but I would also add that you want civil servants to have modern, efficient office buildings to work in. Partly because they work better and the technology systems in them will be smoother, but also because you want civil servants to be working in a place that encourages them to come into work.”
The Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency added: “The hub is a relocation and an efficiency. But in terms of moving jobs out [of London], Defra is increasing its functions in Newcastle and has a plan to do that. We need to move more senior civil servants out of London as well, so that will be more people coming beyond the restructure taking place within HMRC.”
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