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Current financial crisis

On behalf of the three non industrial unions, Alan Dennis has written the letter below to the secretary of state, Bob Ainsworth on the current financial crisis in the MoD.

From: Alan Dennis

Chair

Defence council of civil service unions

_______________________________________________________________________________

To: The Right Honourable Bob Ainsworth MP Secretary of State Ministry of Defence

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Secretary of State

Current Financial Crisis

The Departmental Civil Service Unions recognise that the Department faces very severe financial and operational challenges both in the short term and in the longer term. Our members have as great an interest as anyone in finding sensible possible responses to those issues and we believe that most acknowledge that some very difficult decisions will have to be taken.

But we are very concerned about the way in which the Department is approaching these challenges. We get the distinct impression of panic over the overspends that are forecast in-year and we are particularly disturbed by the fact that the measures being proposed and indeed implemented have significant impact on staff but are not being consulted on with the unions or, where appropriate, negotiated as they should be. The financial crisis is no excuse to cut corners; all that the current approach does is alienate staff and reduce the already low level of confidence they have in senior management.

We believe that a much more constructive approach would be for the Department, led in the first instance by yourself and building on the noteworthy of open engagement with the unions that you yourself set as Minister(AF), to be honest with the unions, as the recognised representatives of your civilian staff, about what the problems are and about the options that are available to address those problems. We would also hope you would agree that the sensitive and imaginative management of staff, and in particular surplus staff, over the next period is vitally important.

We cannot promise to agree with you about options or the choice between them but such an approach has a much better chance of engaging staff and giving them a sense of owning the outcome than the current command and control-based imposition culture.

We therefore seek an early meeting with you to discuss how we can jointly work to deliver the best possible outcome for defence and all who have a stake in it

Yours sincerely


Alan Dennis


Chair
E-Mail: DGCP-CCSUChair@mod.uk

 

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