Public and Commercial Services Union

PCS has launched a legal review of the government's decision to cut civil servants' redundancy terms by up to a third.

The action, which is supported by the Prison Officers' Association, argues that certain redundancy terms have accrued through length of service and the new civil service compensation scheme is therefore an infringement of people’s human rights.

A right to collective bargaining is also threatened by the lack of union agreement on changes to the scheme.

Last year, we successfully defeated the previous government’s attempts to slash compensation scheme benefits and we think we have a strong case this time too.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "We are determined to fight this, not just to protect our members' jobs but to defend the communities they serve from the ideological vandals in this Tory-led cabinet. Instead of cutting jobs, the government should be creating them and investing in our public services to help our economy to grow."

This position received a boost last November when the human rights joint committee – made up of MPs and members of the Lords – said the government had failed to make the case for imposing cuts to the scheme.

• View the latest updates on the campaign