According to a recent article by Tevye Markson for Civil Service World, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has implemented a four-week halt on recruitment to handle existing financial pressures.
The freeze, which commenced on 10 July and is set to end on 4 August, impacts the MoD and its arms-length body Defence Equipment & Support.
In Markson’s report, it’s stated that “The projected growth in our civil service workforce isn’t affordable,” a message that the department conveyed to its staff. The piece also shares that, “The secretary of state has made the decision to introduce civil service recruitment controls to help the department manage our financial pressures.”
These measures are meant to curtail spending that does not contribute to frontline delivery. However, Civil Service World understands that there will still be flexibility to recruit for urgently needed roles, and positions related to nuclear operations will not be affected.
The decision to suspend recruitment has been labelled as “questionable” by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), due to the “clearly great need to employ more staff”.
According to the union, many of its members have reported assuming the workload of two or three individuals, resulting in work-related stress, illness, and absences, and the associated costs.
You can read the original article by Tevye Markson on Civil Service World by clicking here.
Desperate stuff given the recruitment/retention crisis. Doesn’t bode well for the Command Paper and future spending decisions.
Given the announced pay increases are to come from existing department budgets instead of any new monies, I think this might get worse.
Or the current budgets were set with this increase already factored in.
Current budgets factored in 3.5% according to various news outlets.
Perhaps, but when asked today the PM said the pay increases would come from existing department budgets, given that said budgets were drawn up before the pay increases were set, how could they have factored in the correct figure?
Funny how they never fund increases for MPs or the subsidies for their bars & canteen from existing budgets.
One law for us, another for them.
Pigs with snouts in the trough, telling those who keep the country running we have to get poorer.
I look forward to Labour changing that right away, Frank. 👍
Talking about the Defence Command Paper Refresh, anyone else think that it is strange, that it has been delayed until after the NATO summit. Is this because the PM and Def Sec, want to talk tough on defence whilst at the NATO summit but dont want to get questions as to why the UK is cutting capabilities from its Armed Forces again.
CDS recently told the Defence Select Committee that there are no new cuts contained in the paper. It seems civilian posts will be cut to pay for this pay rise.
We won’t see a reduction in budget but it will be squeezed more and more by inflation. Any unfunded projects are certainly at risk, like the Type 32 and additional A400M.
It seems Warrior will go on into the 2030s. Seems daft without WCSP.
Stress, illness and absences? The curse of the civil service. Try joining the private sector where twenty per cent of the country work to make the money for the other eighty per cent to spend.
Have you ever worked for the Civil Service?
I have 2 very good friends who are senior civil servants. Both told me 25% could be fired with zero impact on efficiency. The service is a disaster and we need to wake up to that
Well they are the ones who are in a position to change things. As usual, too many chiefs……
Yes, when I was young but left to join the real world It only took six months of moving paper from one desk to another and back again.
It must be very different from the police force that I work for.
Same brush I suppose.
Rightly or wrongly I never really count the emergency services as civil servants.
Unfortunately, we are public servants and tarred with the same brush.
Pay is low, we have two of five
technical posts unfilled for five years.
As we train people, they do a runner. They are the younger, cleverer people really.
A number of my family, now all retired, were police officers. Uniform and plain clothes. I get the impression that there is a lot of unhappiness in the force, probably caused as usual by constant change. My cousin who was last to retire as a D.I. said day to day getting anything done was trying your best but with one hand tied behind your back. Internal politics.
My sister has worked for the civil service for 35 years. It sounds a great employer. Good terms and conditions, as much time off as she likes really. Admittedly when her annual leave is all used up, and special leave all used up, she does have to make good her hours. She’s now in her last few years so is working more hours to bump up the pension (try doing that or on private pension!). Unfortuneately I’m self employed – no contributory pension scheme, no sick pay, no holiday pay and a lot more than 40 hours a week. My… Read more »
Government workforce including local government is 15% of national workforce
..
So we (the public) are supposed to believe that this kind of thing does not happen on a regular basis? As every, those involved have no military background, but are mere ‘children’ graduating from whogivesatoss University, then going straight into the civil service. If there are too many civil servants, (which I suspect there are) get rid of them, as opposed to slashing the Armed Forces. I know I know, it will never happen. However, at some point someone will have to take serious notice of our Armed Forces, as well as care about them. I know of a few… Read more »
Two very good friends of mine a senior CS and told me 25% could be fired without impacting efficiency at all. I asked why they couldn’t be fired and they told me it’s almost impossible to do so. It makes me sick to my stomach
I’m 20 years Ex army and 27 years Customs & Excise/Border Force. For me there are not enough operational staff, but non public facing staff like Policy possibly could be an area for cuts but I couldn’t swear to that.
Its just like local goverment, top heavy
The MOD has been cutting the number of civil servants for years. 2009 there were ~86000, in 2022 ~59900. I would need to check my UK armed force book, but I was sure you were talking 130000 back in he mid 1990’s
Correct. All the usual civil servant bashing forgets many of these people actually have important inputs into defence that someone has to do.
But as usual so many posters only see the MoD as Army/RN/RAF, and not the tail that supports them.
The MOD is competent?🙄
That’s a wide term, mate. The MoD comprises hundreds of directorates, organisations, and agencies. Are you saying they’re all incompetent? Course not. Are you saying the likes of the SME scientists at DSTL, at Porton, at the AWE, at SSE, at the CMO at main building, and on and on, and others are incompetent? Or are we talking procurement? Cutting jobs is one thing, but what replaces their input, which then doesn’t go away. Contractors? Another false economy. There are failures and incompetence in all walks of life, all jobs, all roles. In my field one can talk a good… Read more »
Quite right of course. Always good and bad. I suppose I was really taking in the MOD as an organisation which overall and given it’s record, along with our political friends, does not seem fit for purpose. Procurement certainly but I have often come up against civil service departments in my life and have, with odd exceptions, found them a nightmare to deal with. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow seems often to be an inherent excuse.
Not sure this is correct, there are some very competent CS out there who are working hard. During COVID while the military were out there supporting the public you are the CS in the background supporting them with all the administrative duties and advising them. I’m in a finance role and had to oversee the finance and ensure public money was being use as per policy. I was a one man team as my manager had retired and my administrator was off sick.
I’m sure I saw an article recently revealing that the number of staff at the MOD wasn’t to far short of the size of the British army. Not to mention all the money they piss down the drain on agency workers.
They are also looking into reducing the number of “Contractors” in DE&S as well. I know at least 2 in the Delivery Team I work in, who are leaving in the next 2 months.
Strange old place DE&S when it comes to resource. We’re fighting to get more in because we just cannot get the work done. I know one of the areas is having all of their PDP resource removed and shifted to other areas. June to Aug is always a funny period at ABW in regards to Contractors, always dries up and then when Sept hits they can’t take on enough.
Totally OT. I see the Germans are at it again, blocking the sale of 48 Typhoons to Saudi, in a deal which BAE negotiated several years ago. According to Reuters, Germany is responsible for 30% of the aircraft’s production so will not sanction the sale, won’t rule any further on the issue until after their elections in 2025! Nice to know who your friends are given that we are spending upwards of £5 billion on Boxer……
Hence why we don’t want/need them involved in Tempest except as a purchaser.
Never a truer word spoken.
Isn’t Sweden involved in Tempest, I thought they have had a history of having issues with how their hardware gets used as well?
Sadly they pulled out officially last year. They are only on the basis of an observer at the moment. But that may change when financial reality kicks in for the Gripen replacement. The major issue the Swedes had, is that Tempest will be significantly bigger than Typhoon, which in itself is much larger than a Gripen. Tempest’s larger size is due to the need for an internal weapons bay, more fuel storage along with two whopping great engines. So didn’t really meet their requirement for a relatively light fighter, than can be used from dispersed sites like roads etc and… Read more »
Absolutely, good look to the French, (who quite frankly will sell military equipment to anyone, if they can get away with it), with the Germans drip feeding finance and preventing export opportunities.
I wonder if the French have worked a no obstruction clause into the FOAS partners contract.
With French stubborn intransigence and German ‘moral values’ and penny pinching, I would be amazed of anything ever comes of it….
To put an opposing viewpoint forward, how many arms deals has the UK scuppered to prevent Argentina improving its capabilities since 19883? I’m not denying that its legitimately in the UK’s interest to do so and understandable so, but I imagine the Non British Arms companies that have been frustrated might have the same view on the UKs actions as you do on Germany’s.
At the end of the day, domestic politics, whether its German or British or anyone else will win.
Hi Mark, Its a perfectly reasonable viewpoint, agree ref ‘we all look after our own’ comes into it. Just seems that some countries do this more so then others. Germany has plagued the ‘Typhoon’ programme for decades with its ‘changes of heart/requirements’ and has probably caused the programme costs to be greater than perhaps they would have been. Politics for you I know. Personally don’t see the problem with Argentina trying to build up its military capabilities, as they are perfectly entitled to do so. Believe we would be in a far better place if we hadn’t stopped the US/Western… Read more »
I don’t know, still believe Maggie sold us short. Should have demanded reparations from Argentina. Their half of Patagonia would have been a good start. 😉
Absolutely! Both a very decent Malbec and Pinot to be had.👌
The irony here is, whislt Germany is happy to scupper arms sales to Saudi Arabia so as to keep business deals with Iran. They continue to allow sales to Russia after the EU banned all miltary sales:(from last April) Exclusive: France and Germany evaded arms embargo to sell weapons to Russia France and Germany armed Russia with €273 million (£230 million) of military hardware now likely being used in Ukraine, an EU analysis shared with The Telegraph has revealed. They sent equipment, which included bombs, rockets, missiles and guns, to Moscow despite an EU-wide embargo on arms shipments to Russia,… Read more »
Well, so much for ‘were all in this together’ stuff! It does make you wonder though as to why we bother with an embargo if countries circumvent the process to sell a few £million worth of arms to the ‘other’ side? On another note, this will make us all cry I’m sure. It has been confirmed that UK intends to run Warriors on past the 2025 OSD, quite possibly until 2030ish due presumably to slippage of both Boxer/Ajax ISDs. This probably means that they will need some form of upgrade to keep them going (and we cancelled Warrior upgrade not… Read more »
At least a positive, is that the IFV is being kept. And it was well known already mate, for the reasons you mention. Ajax is late, the CVRTs disgarded, and Warrior is in the recc role in the RAC Recc regiments.. As for the infantry, It will be into the 2030s before Boxer is fielded in any great number, so unless the infantry walk, they need something.
Hi Daniele, Yes agree its a positive for all concerned, also shows IMO, that we still need a tracked IFV and not just ‘wheels’! What strikes me as somewhat odd, is the fact that WCSP still got cancelled (03/21) after we knew that deliveries of Boxer (500 by 2023) were going to be late due in no small part to Covid (entirely obvious by 08/20). Mod knew that it was going to have to extend Warrior OSD back then, and that it would still require some form of upgrade, particularly the electronic architecture and gun! I suspect that much of… Read more »
Reading a number of the comments, I note a lot of them are inferring that civil servants in the MoD are not effective, or that 25% could be fired without impact on effectiveness. I’ve worked in the military >20years, in the private sector and in the Civil Service and every organisation has the same issues with effective staff. Civil service staff are not paid anywhere near the same as their military colleagues at the same grade, but that isn’t an issue as Civil Servants are not being sent to the front line to defend the realm, and it doesn’t mean… Read more »
The UK is full of middle management. Millions of people sitting at keyboards all day sending emails and going on teams meetings, the majority of which couldn’t probably change a spare wheel. Totally dependent on imports from China, India and elsewhere. The ability for the UK to mass produce anything and become self sustainable is dwindling every year. The MOD is a classic example of this, absorbing millions in itself and not spending on the armed forces directly. The working class are now a minority in Britain, yet the millions of middle classes are at the mercy of China. It… Read more »
Yawn
We note the increasing bold statements coming from you now Frost, no doubt hoping to avoid John in Minsk’s fate….
Did you get a thumbs up from your MSB handler for that one, or a stoney cold stare??
Will it be a potato and vodka takeaway on Saturday night in your Moscow flat, or a dried Russian Army Potato based MRE and a water bottle filled with vodka in a waterlogged trench somewhere in Ukraine?
I await your response, gives me a great idea for chapter 3 in my upcoming book ” The Troll Farmers Diary”.
#Troll Alert#
No such thing as working or middle class! Please define how you would define both? Earnings? Heritage? Family? career, Income tax, benefits ? And then, once you have realised you can’t, then you can look at your post once more and understand how much chuff you post on a regular basis! Good lad.
The simple truth is that we are paying ourselves too much. Recent greed by the public sector is exacerbating an already desperate situation. We need an effective fighting force across all 4 branches of the Armed Forces. We do not need yet more civil servants hindering operational effectiveness. We must stop waste. £10m per day on gimmegrants of over £3.5bn per year. That can buy desperately needed ammunition. On average add 13.5% of salary increases to cover civil service pensions. National debt at £2.6tn is 100% GDP. We must return production to the UK as contracts – especially with China… Read more »
Exactly, automation and ai are now becoming common in business, where paperless systems are now the norm. Basically you need less and less staff each year. The MOD must have 1000s of employees facing obsolescence. The UK needs to reset it’s economy and focus more on manufacturing. France and Germany will be far better off, they have kept there manufacturing base. Audi, Vag, Renault etc etc
recent greed? the local goverment for example had 6 years of no pay rise while the private sector wages grew. Austerity
Now they want to control inflation? well sorry
The MOD is clearly penniless again as UK defence spending remains static despite the Ukraine war. I see that Germany has now overtaken the UK as NATO’s second biggest spender thanks to a 30% (!) real increase in its defence budget, and France probably will next year. If rumours (to be taken with a large pinch of salt!) are correct, the Defence Command Paper 2023 Refresh expected to be published next week may extraordinarily actually cut the size the British Army further. The resulting “savings” will be spent on drones; air defence systems (much needed IMHO); and improving the readiness… Read more »
I understand the ‘ budget’ for Germany doesnt mean its spent
1/3 bigger population and 45% greater GDP you would expect Germany to be well ahead of UK in annual spending as they were previously 1.4% of GDP before
Germany underspent on defence for decades. Whilst UK politicians may have publicly complained about this there is no doubt that it was very helpful in flattering UK defence spending. Over the last 8 years the UK has also generally edged out France (depending on exchange rates), but under its latest 5 Year Defence Law French defence spending will surge far ahead of the UKs. Even long standing laggards Italy and Spain are increasing their defence spending to near UK levels. If you exclude spending on our nuclear deterrent, the UK has now become just part of the European peloton.
Inflation has made many increases look better than they are
“The ministry plans to request an additional €1.5 billion be added to the 2023 annual defense budget, bringing it from €43.9 billion to about €45.4 billion”
Its well known to throw around 5 yr or 10 yr numbers to make it all sound impressive.
Actual 2023 increase is 1.5 bill or 3.5% when inflation in France this year is 5.5%
The increase in spending in Germany is welcome but will be swallowed up by fixing all the problems caused by decades of under investment…. if it gets spent. They need a deployable army, an airforce that can fly and a Navy that has ships that don’t list and subs that can put to sea. Its a long list and will take a long time and I would be surprised if they keep it at 2% after more than 5 years.
“if economic circumstances allow” just about covers it!
Correct me if I am wrong but the infamous 2015 SDSR committed to cut the civilian workforce of the MOD by 30% – down to 41,000. 1 April 2020, the strength was 58,260 and as of 1 April 2023, the current strength is 62,650. I’m not sure there have been any cuts to the MOD? and they’re still complaining about being overworked.
Even for a Conservative voter like me, the time has come to look elsewhere.
(I would have moved after Cameron/Osbourne had it not been for the possibility of Corbyn gaining office.)
Total betrayal of the armed forces by successive Tory leaders – at least Boris, for all his faults, saw the issues and was planning to tackle them.
From what ive seen by my quick google research the MOD civil service nos are the highest they have ever been?
Any one better informed than me and google?
OT: 20M£ contract for Trophy APS after 25 tests which included live fire in a Challenger 3 representative system.
All deliberate and could easily be rectified. The Gov chooses to pish billions up against the wall on pointless ventures , they choose to give billions away to other nations . You can spin it anyway you like but that is reality.
Alas the Gov don’t like giving the public reality that is how we now live in an era of censorship , censorship protecting YOU from reality ……..
🏴🇬🇧
I’m wondering if Ben Wallace may resign next week as Defence Secretary if the Defence Command Paper is not accompanied by a substantial real boost in UK defence spending, publicly backed by Sunak and Hunt. There are hints at times of him playing the role of Churchill in the mid 1930’s, although we shouldn’t forget that even Winston robustly enforced the notorious 10 year rule on the armed forces when Chancellor in the 1920s. 10% chance?
It’s a bit but spooky but I’ve just read in todays Guardian that “Ben Wallace is to leave government at the next cabinet reshuffle after four years as defence secretary and will not stand in the general election.” A shame that the Americans and French have vetoed him getting the NATO job. Will Penny Mordaunt get back her old job as Defence Secretary? She seems better qualified second time round.
So up to 3 thousand to be made redundant it seems:
https://news.sky.com/story/thousands-of-civil-service-jobs-to-be-cut-and-recruitment-freeze-at-ministry-of-defence-to-fund-pay-rises-12921139
Hypocrisy at the highest level. The impact of Capita and it inefficiency and the removal of high street offices demonstrate a wilful policy not to recruit to save money. Shame on the Government.