Despite falling productivity, the cost of civil servant salaries has soared to £19.7 billion, up 11 per cent in just one year and UK taxpayers are footing the bill.
The size of Britain’s Civil Service has ballooned to its biggest in nearly two decades – with figures showing 546,000 bureaucrats now on the payroll, the highest since 2006 when Labour’s Tony Blair ruled the roost.
Critics say Starmer’s regime presides over a bloated state, remote working culture, and a productivity slump – all on the taxpayer’s dime.
In just five years, the number of civil servants has rocketed by 92,000 since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020 – a staggering rise that’s left ministers and taxpayers wondering what exactly the public is getting in return.
It’s a far cry from the days of Conservative discipline, when Lord Cameron and George Osborne slashed the Civil Service by over 100,000 in a bold effort to get Britain’s finances back on track after Labour’s 2008 crash.
By the time Covid hit, the Tories had made the Civil Service 4 per cent more efficient than in 1997, and 8 per cent more productive than in 2010, when they inherited Gordon Brown’s chaos. Now, after just eight months of Labour, all that hard work is vanishing like smoke.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former government efficiency czar, slammed the soaring staff numbers and the rise of unnecessary roles and remote working:
“Unfortunately, productivity has declined massively because of working from home. There are too many civil servants doing unnecessary things, publicity and PR departments, that sort of thing.”
There’s an awful lot that AI can do now, such as summarising documents. The Civil Service should be slimmed down and brought back to reality.”
Working From Home Woes
Latest figures show Civil Service office occupancy is just 67 per cent, with some departments like the Scotland Office and DWP falling to just 55 and 58 per cent. That means many staff are barely in the office – if they even have a desk.
A Telegraph investigation revealed only 47 per cent of civil servants actually have access to a desk in their department’s building.
Sir Jacob’s infamous “Sorry you were out when I visited” desk notes now seem prophetic, as Labour refuses to get staff back in.
Red Tape Explosion
Departments across Whitehall have seen runaway growth, with the Ministry of Housing ballooning by 60 per cent, the Home Office up 51 per cent, and DEFRA swelling by 42 per cent since 2019.
But it’s not front-line staff seeing the benefit – only 54 per cent of civil servants are now in roles delivering public services, down from 57 per cent in 2016.
The rest? Many are in back-office roles, policy work, or in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) departments – with the DWP recently hiring a Deputy Director of Wellbeing and Inclusion on a salary of £117,499.
Sir Jacob blasted the trend, saying:
“All equality, diversity and inclusion staff should be got rid of straight away, just as Trump is doing. When I was there, there was one course called ‘Check Yo Privilege’. That sort of nonsense needs to stop.”
Wages Rising While Services Stall
Despite falling productivity – now 5 per cent below 1997 levels – the cost of civil servant salaries has soared to £19.7 billion, up 11 per cent in just one year.
The number of officials earning over £100,000 has risen by 42.5 per cent, and all grades have seen pay rises above inflation.
Callum Price, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, warned:
“Productivity is still below pre-pandemic levels despite the vast increases in Civil Service and public sector workers.”
“Growth is rightly the Government’s priority, and it is clear more officials does not equal more growth.”
Even Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Chancellor, has hinted at needing to “cut the bill for bureaucrats” – but critics say she lacks the ambition to do what’s needed.
Joanna Marchong of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said:
“Taxpayers are fed up with paying ever more from their pocket only for services to, at best, stand still.”
Maxwell Marlow of the Adam Smith Institute didn’t hold back:
“The Civil Service is now just a massive employment scheme, just as universities are there to hide youth unemployment.”
“We need to bring it up to the productivity levels seen in the private sector, and we should fire director generals who do not succeed in this.”
He added:
“The numbers should be cut down to 100,000 bureaucrats, which would be enough.”
The Conservative and Reformer Post Says: Time To Slash The Slack
Labour might talk tough on growth, but while the Civil Service continues to balloon under their watch, it’s clear they’re more interested in keeping unions happy than cutting waste.
With Rachel Reeves dithering and Keir Starmer dodging, it’s down to taxpayers to pick up the bill – again.
It’s time to drain the bureaucratic swamp, bring back proper Conservative-style reform, and put the taxpayer first.
Got a story about Whitehall waste? Email us at Editor@ConservativePost.co.uk
