Public and Commercial Services Union

Group bulletin 29 September 2009 

Probably the biggest issue facing the union right now is the attack on the redundancy terms (CSCS) inside the civil service.

The attack on the terms is not a surprise as there is joint agreement across the political spectrum that cutting severance payments for civil servants will help balance the Exchequer’s books.

Unfortunately the chancellor has estimated that by cutting severance entitlements to civil servants employees by roughly 30% will result in savings of £0.5Bn, and the expected annual deficit is £175Bn. 

PCS have argued that a more productive way to begin to fill the £175Bn debt is to collect the £28Bn of unpaid taxes from the black economy by properly staffing HMRC - tax evasion on the buying or selling of goods and labour is estimated to be roughly 7% of the UK's GDP - force the City to pay for the recession that their greed has caused, or alternatively the government could stop spending money on consultants that tell the government how to make cuts in public services that saves them the money they’ve just spent on the consultants!

Like many of you PCS reps are furious that the evidence that so many of Britain’s executive class have got their snouts in the trough is interpreted as a positive sign that we are coming out of recession. 

Unless the government back down my personal opinion is that it is virtually inevitable that there will be a bitter dispute in the civil service over these terms, and I’ve spoken in support of the campaign at the national executive committee meetings.

In an environment where redundancies are an ever present danger the members have to be given the option to take industrial action.

The new terms are due to come into effect on 1 January 2010 regardless of staff consultation or talks with the respective civil service unions. PCS are however also seeking to use the courts to prevent the changes going ahead.

Although there are transitional arrangements on the table for discussion the term and condition changes being imposed on civil servants from 1st January are:-

• Removal of reserved rights
•  Loss of all established voluntary terms including voluntary on compulsory terms
• Compulsory redundancy term to be lowered from 3 years salary cap to 2 years cap

The worst affected members of staff are roughly 10,000 civil servants facing privatisation. If they are privatised after 1 January 2010 they will transfer on the new terms which will become contractual under TUPE.

They will then be in the unenviable position of having to begin life with a new employer in dispute on a vital term. In addition the government will not commit to honouring payments to those civil servants who have already volunteered and agreed packages with their departments but have an exit date after 1 January 2010. 

Overall the attack on the terms is a spiteful act that serves no real purpose but to temporarily placate those who believe that ordinary civil servants – many on below average salaries - should be made national scapegoats for the recession.