The following details have been supplied by the PCS HQ:
Slashing public services and vilifying public servants has been the hallmark of the first 100 days of the coalition government.
One of the government’s first acts was to announce that £6.25 billion in public spending would be cut immediately. This was trailed in the media as simply cutting back on the use of first-class travel, glossy advertising and IT contracts.
In reality, it meant the abolition of several government agencies, including the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency and Becta, employing more than 800 staff between them, and damaging cuts at others.
Support for the regions is being severely slashed with plans to abolish the Government Office Network and close or significantly reduce funding for Regional Development Agencies.
Up to 450 job cuts are under threat in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as the department and its partner organisations make cuts of £836 million in this financial year.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced it would contribute £61 million to the cuts. All major museums and galleries were told that 3% had been taken out of their current budgets.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced it would contribute £162 million to the first wave of cuts.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission was told in June it had to cut 15% from its £60 million budget this year leaving it unable to properly fulfil its functions.
The Department for Work and Pensions’ share of this year’s cuts was £535 million, with £335 million claimed as a ‘saving’ from the abolition of the Future Jobs Fund and ending employer subsidies.
Rather than cutting jobs, the government should be creating them to stimulate growth.
