Much was made during the last government of the need to reduce civil service headcount. Jeremy Hunt specifically targeted useless diversity roles plaguing Whitehall. Guido thought he would see how much progress has been made on that front this year…
Guido fired Freedom of Information requests to all major departments to inquire about the headcounts of their central Equality, Diversity and Inclusion teams. It will surprise no one that far from cutting their diversity staff the civil service is actually increasing their numbers. One agency is now offering pay rises to those who ‘champion diversity‘…
DSIT, the Cabinet Office, DBT, MoJ, HMRC, and the Home Office have all expanded their diversity teams since the start of the year. More staff are of course needed to organise further George Floyd struggle sessions and meetings with witches...
The Home Office takes the inglorious first prize with a whopping 37 staff in its central DEI team. Only the DWP has honourably cut more than one DEI staff member since the start of the year, getting rid of about ten Higher Executive Officers. The rest have maintained their numbers. The woke blob marches on…
Ian Corfield, a banker who generously gifted over £20,000 to key Labour figures—including Rachel Reeves—has snagged a plush civil service position in the Treasury, as noted by Politico. Corfield was a senior business director for Labour leading up to the election, and was appointed as a director of investment at the Treasury in July. I’ll scratch your back…
A gentle reminder: the civil service is supposed to commit to impartiality, designed to keep political leanings out of their work, though it seems Corfield managed to pass the “exception rule”. Now, Corfield will be on a plum salary between £97,000 to £162,500. He’s not the first Labour donor to reap the rewards of their former donations either. Richard Hermer replaced Emily Thornberry as Attorney General, having donated £5,000 toward Starmer’s leadership campaign. Follow the money…
The Department of Health and Social Care put out a message to civil servants on the internal intranet yesterday in relation to the riots sweeping the streets of the UK. They acknowledge the “distressing” scenes, offering “support” to those “impacted”. “Mental-health first aiders” and “wellbeing coaches” are among the many services provided to those distressed by events. If they aren’t too busy shirking from home, gardening or gaming…
Still, the message of support wasn’t well received. Several senior advisers from the department have launched a blistering attack on the “disappoint[ing]” response, slamming it for its failure to “call a spade a spade” and call out the “root cause” of the riots.
Guido has contacted DHSC for a comment. It appears that the countless forms of support from the blob for these delicate pen-pushers just aren’t enough…
UPDATE I: A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:
“We are providing support services to our staff, who are working alongside NHS staff to respond to the violent, thuggish behaviour we’ve seen over the last week.”
UPDATE II: The comments section has now been closed. The department clearly couldn’t handle all the complaints…
Last week, Anne Jenkin posed some provocative questions in the House of Lords, though now it seems she may not have just been “asking for a friend.” Her inquiries may relate to a civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions who’s been stirring up some controversy with their wardrobe choices. Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale, a transgender individual and co-chair of the LGBT+ Civil Service Network, allegedly comes to the office dressed in what one civil servant called “fetish gothic evening wear.” This includes highly professional attire – in certain industries – such as black corsets and fishnet tights…
Unsurprisingly, some civil servants have taken issue with this “strange” sartorial choice, saying it’s highly “inappropriate”, according to reports. Perhaps it’s a case of a dress code that needs a little spanking into shape…
Security staff at the Department for Work and Pensions are set for another two weeks of strikes, as the PCS union continues to complain about pay and working conditions. The latest walkout, starting 12th August, follows GMB’s claims that the outsourcer G4S is violating modern slavery laws by threatening disciplinary action or withholding shifts if staff don’t complete their security training. Given that these are security staff, one might think completing training is a basic and reasonable requirement…
Meanwhile, GPs across England are gearing up for an unprecedented strike over a new services contract. Shadow Health Secretary Victoria Atkins noted that it was “no surprise” GPs have voted for the walkout, given Labour “appease[d]” junior doctors with a bumper pay rise earlier this week. Life under Labour…
It’s a new dawn for work-shy civil servants. The proportion of them actually working in the office was published on a weekly basis from the summer of 2022 as the government pushed to get pen-pushers to show up for work. No wonder they were to elated to see the back of the Tories...
That data hasn’t been published since May before the election campaign. Now Guido is told by the Cabinet Office, after weeks of delay, that “ministers have not yet given a view on this matter“. Amid Starmer’s gushing “respect” for civil servants, trying to get the blob to actually do some work is a task that’s fallen to the wayside…
UPDATE: The government has revived the work from home data, now published less frequently than before on a quarterly basis. 4 months later…
