[UK] Civil service salaries balloon 60% after 100k headcount growth

The UK civil service’s salary bill has skyrocketed by 60 per cent - or £5.8 billion - in just seven years, with most of the extra cash paying its highest earners who receive as much as £200,000 a year, rather than frontline staff who guard borders or prisons, Guido Fawkes reports.

The dramatic growth brings Whitehall’s total pay bill to £15.5 billion pounds. The total number of civil servants has risen by 101,440 over the same period; the largest increase in over half a century.

These findings were reportedly revealed by research from the Taxpayers’ Alliance after the most recent set of headcount figures proved 'disappointing' despite the UK government’s repeated pledges to cut waste once extra Brexit and pandemic staff were no longer needed. 

In addition, the government is apparently failing to deliver on levelling up regions by moving government jobs. The number of civil servants in London grew by 33 per cent, more than any other region. 

John O’Connell - chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance - said, “With the tax burden at near-record levels, taxpayers are paying through the nose for the boom in public sector employment. What’s more, there is a growing sense that public services are worse than before the hiring spree, not better.  Only once politicians start to be honest about what the state can reasonably be expected to do can we wind down functions and scrap unnecessary jobs.”

Source: Guido Fawkes

(Link and quote via original reporting)

The UK civil service’s salary bill has skyrocketed by 60 per cent - or £5.8 billion - in just seven years, with most of the extra cash paying its highest earners who receive as much as £200,000 a year, rather than frontline staff who guard borders or prisons, Guido Fawkes reports.

The dramatic growth brings Whitehall’s total pay bill to £15.5 billion pounds. The total number of civil servants has risen by 101,440 over the same period; the largest increase in over half a century.

These findings were reportedly revealed by research from the Taxpayers’ Alliance after the most recent set of headcount figures proved 'disappointing' despite the UK government’s repeated pledges to cut waste once extra Brexit and pandemic staff were no longer needed. 

In addition, the government is apparently failing to deliver on levelling up regions by moving government jobs. The number of civil servants in London grew by 33 per cent, more than any other region. 

John O’Connell - chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance - said, “With the tax burden at near-record levels, taxpayers are paying through the nose for the boom in public sector employment. What’s more, there is a growing sense that public services are worse than before the hiring spree, not better.  Only once politicians start to be honest about what the state can reasonably be expected to do can we wind down functions and scrap unnecessary jobs.”

Source: Guido Fawkes

(Link and quote via original reporting)