Starmer has yet again put Civil Service reform at the centre of his promise for a “digital revolution” to usher in a “more agile, effective and active state.” That includes having one in ten civil servants working “in tech and digital roles within the next five years.” Cue talk from Labour ministers of job cuts and re-orientation of public sector roles…
The problem is that Labour has been in power for eight and a half months now and trends in the Civil Service are moving very much in the opposite direction. Over at the Department of Business and Trade a Guido FOI reveals the number of staff with “media,” “communications“, or “press” in their job title has risen in the last year from 66 to 71 employees. Staff responsible for glitzing up the work of the department are accompanied by a total annual bill of £3,467,946…
For those five new hires DBT is paying an additional £456,808. That’s £91,362 per new media/communications officer hired. It’s a tough job glamming up Jonathan Reynolds…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”