Public and Commercial Services Union

The budget announcement yesterday set out the biggest expenditure cuts and programme of privatisation in the history of our country.

Laughably, the government has described this as a ‘budget for jobs’, yet it has buried in the report plans to destroy thousands of civil service jobs. The MoD is particularly badly affected with thousands of our jobs at risk.

The chancellor announced yesterday that the MoD has committed to deliver a further £3.15 billion of cost savings. These are in addition to the job cuts and savings already announced under the 2007 comprehensive spending review. The details of how the MoD plans to achieve this are vague, but it is already clear that: thousands of our jobs face the real risk of cuts and/or privatisation.

The Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP is a Treasury review – led by Gerry Grimstone the former head of Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation unit) has opened up the likely possibility of:

• The sale and privatisation of the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency (DSDA) and possibly the Defence Support Group
• The sale and privatisation of the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO)
• The sale and privatisation of the Defence Estate's Security
• Services Group
• The sale and privatisation of the Defence Animal Centre
• £100 million of job cuts from extending the Civilian Costs Programme which will reduce support costs across the department
• An additional £6 million cut through ‘continued pressure for efficiency on shared services’
• The entire Defence Estates TLB itself is potentially under threat from the proposal within the OEP to establish: “a central property function to provide assistance and expertise and oversee the efficiency and rationalisation agenda for property across the whole public sector”.

Next Steps

PCS has, encouragingly, had very early dialogue and engagement with the department on the OEP via a corporate service steering group. We have also engaged already with management and MPs on the areas likely to be tested for outsourcing. We will be stepping this work in the next period.

We will also, over the coming weeks, arrange PCS members meetings to discuss proposals directly with our members. In some areas, such as PPPA, this planning is already well advanced.

Our position on this senseless job slaughter is clear. We will demand from MoD an agreement that guarantees:

• No compulsory redundancies
• The most generous severance terms for those who choose to leave
• No compulsory relocation
• An end to outsourcing – protect our public services
• Full MoD adherence to the national agreements our union has concluded with the employer – the protocols on jobs and the agreement on privatisation and outsourcing.

Remember - behind the talk about targets and savings are real people and real lives. These disgraceful proposals will wreck lives and cause misery to thousands.

Now more than ever we need stand together and to build PCS, so that we are strong and able to resist the coming attacks.

Members Action Plan

PCS is asking every member to do 4 things:

1. Recruit a friend – and make sure everyone in your office/area is a member of the union. We appeal to everyone to join us and our fight to save jobs.
2. Sign up to receive future PCS briefings – so that you know what is going on and can tell other members. Please email Paul Barnsley
3. Attend your local PCS meeting to discuss our response to the cuts.
4. Get active – PCS needs members to help us build our union.

Over the next period PCS will be the only force strong enough, and with the political will, to challenge this jobs carnage. As ever, our strength comes from the active participation of members.