Pat McFadden announced this week that he was cancelling government procurement cards in a bid to tackle civil service waste. Though this is just a freeze – cardholders will now have to reapply and prove they really need them. No doubt Whitehall’s finest are already thinking of ways to pass that test…
Guido welcomes any effort to rein in taxpayer-funded excess, given what mandarins have been splashing out on. Between September and December last year, civil servants at the Home Office, Cabinet Office, DEFRA, and DCMS spent a staggering £11,650 on work-from-home office ‘equipment’, according to research by the Taxpayer’s Alliance. Despite the government’s best efforts to drag civil servants into the office three days a week, pen-pushers splashed the cash on home “footrests”, “noise dampeners”, chairs, and monitor risers. All very necessary of course for a productive day of shirking from home. Guido will be keeping an eye on how many of these mandarins manage to keep hold of their taxpayer-funded credit cards…
Yesterday’s Sullivan Review delivered some troubling findings, concluding that the NHS “consistently prioritises gender identity over or in place of sex” and warning of a “clear clinical risk” due to inadequate diligence in sex data collection. Speaking on the Today Programme, Professor Sullivan highlighted the root of the issue: confusion over the word “gender.” Once widely understood as a synonym for sex, it has since become a term used to record diverse gender identities – leading to a “widespread loss of data on sex.” Progressive civil servant ‘activists’ are taking the flak for this one…
The review set out some helpful recommendations, including that “the default target of any sex question should be sex (in other words, biological sex, natal sex, sex at birth).” In response, Wes Streeting has come out strongly in support, stating on X that he “will act on the findings.”
The Sullivan Review underlines the importance of recording biological sex – not just for research and insight, but also patient safety.
Doing so does not prevent us from recording, recognising and respecting people’s gender identity where these differ.
We’ll act on findings.
— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) March 20, 2025
Streeting has long positioned himself as the anti-woke Health Secretary, last month calling out NHS diversity roles that are “ideological hobby horses” and making it clear that “anti-whiteness” has no place in the health service. He’ll be hoping woke civil servants fall in line…
Keir Starmer and Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald have sent a letter to all civil servants today, piling on the praise after Pat McFadden spent the weekend promising to reduce Whitehall staffing – without saying by how much – in a bid to slash spending. Cue outrage from civil service unions…
FDA boss Dave Penman lashed out at the government over its vague talk of “reform,” raising concerns over what these “tough decisions” will really mean for the pen-pushers. The letter kicks things off with some heavy flattery:
“Every day, we are privileged to be surrounded by dedicated, brilliant public servants. Service is the watchword of this Government, and it is central to the name you hold – the Civil Service. Communities the length and breadth of the country should always be at the heart of every decision we take. We know that every day you strive to deliver for the British people in everything you do.”
From there, they pitch Starmer’s Plan for Change as a way to “empower” civil servants and make Whitehall “the engine room of delivery,” promising to transform their work “for the better.” The letter ends on a reassuring note:
“We are proud what you do.”
Number 10 will be hoping that’s enough to settle the nerves…
Read the full letter below:
When civil servants aren’t shirking from home or dialing in from some sun-soaked getaway, Red Ed will be delighted to know they’re hard at work on pressing governmental matters. Chatting about climate change…
Next month (naturally midweek), the Civil Service Climate + Environment Network is hosting a Climate and Environment Conference for mandarins at the swanky Leonardo Royal Hotel London Tower Bridge. They’ll also hold “satellite parties” across the UK for those who can’t get to London, with an option to join virtually for those most committed to staying at home. That’ll be a barrel of laughs…
Civil servants have also been keeping themselves busy with “Carbon Literacy” training sessions (whatever that means). Sessions are of course conveniently scheduled for midweek working hours, providing the opportunity for desk-dodgers to down tools and dive into the following:
- An introduction to climate science.
- Impacts of climate change on our environment and our health.
- Vulnerability to climate change and pandemics.
- Climate policies and legislation.
- Communicating and inspiring action on climate change.
Meanwhile, the Care Quality Commission has been proudly boasting about the lessons they delivered at the NHS 100 – Decarbonising the NHS conference earlier this month. “Rolls Royce” civil service…
It’s hardly a secret that our beloved civil servants loathe dragging themselves into the office, preferring instead to “work” from the comfort of their own homes – or, as it turns out, from sunnier climes abroad. The PCS union is up in arms over the government’s entirely reasonable plan to have them clock in for at least 60% of their time, given the undeniable fact that they’re far less productive in their pajamas. But apparently, for some, even the UK is too much to endure…
According to research from the Taxpayers’ Alliance seen by Guido a staggering 312 civil servants from the Departments for Transport, Energy and Net Zero, Culture and Media and the Ministry of Defence chose to work from abroad between 2021 and 2024, citing reasons like visiting family or other personal jaunts. Their destinations? A mix of sun-soaked escapes, including Cyprus, Kenya, Brunei, and various European hotspots. In 2021/22, 59 civil servants worked from outside the UK – by 2023/24, that number surged to 154, with a whopping 58 of them from the Ministry of Defence. Not as if there are wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East or anything…
Of those departments, 23 civil servants are still currently dialling in from overseas. The MoD released the salaries of 27 such staffers, though others remain hidden behind a veil of confidentiality. Over the last three years, the salaries of these globe-trotting pen-pushers have added up to a tidy sum of £1,249,825. The TPA‘s Joanna Marchong said “Civil servants get pay, pensions and perks frequently unavailable in the growth-generating private sector. Ministers need to consider whether these benefits deliver value for money for taxpayers.” Nice work if you can get it…
The latest annual survey of civil servants shines some light on why our pen-pushers are no longer “world-leading”. Just 52% pursue “efficiency” as a priority, and only 65% say they are 90-100% productive. Something about a ‘tepid bath of decline’ comes to mind…
Meanwhile, 20% of civil servants want to leave as soon as possible, only 62% would recommend the job, and a mere 42% understand what a “modern civil service” even looks like. Keir Starmer’s attempt at a Cummings-style crackdown promising reform then promptly penning a grovelling apology to Whitehall likely doesn’t help…
For all Starmer’s talk of “efficiency,” the civil service continues to balloon. Whitehall’s headcount is now 515,000 strong—the same bloated level as Tony Blair’s heyday in 2006—up by 2,000 since Labour took over in summer. Meanwhile Labour’s deep ties with the unions make any meaningful reform look doubtful, with PCS union boss Fran Heathcote already grumbling that Labour’s Employment Rights Bill doesn’t grant civil servants enough bargaining power and fresh strike threats rumbling across departments. Latest in the Whitehall “Rolls-Royce”…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”
