PCS responds to PM's speech on civil service reform

Responding to the Prime Minister’s “Plan For Change” speech, Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “The Prime Minister says that he is rewiring the British state to deliver the ‘Plan For Change’.

“A key milestone in that plan is raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. Our members have a key role to play in delivering that; and the government needs to ensure their interests are taken into account by providing them with job security and good pay and conditions.

“We agree technology has a part to play in improving public services and enhancing our members’ job satisfaction, but we are also clear that it cannot be used as a blunt instrument to cut jobs.

“Better public services and better front-line delivery will require human beings making empathetic decisions, not automatons incapable of understanding people’s needs.

“Any proposals for changing the way our members work must be done in full consultation with the unions.

“Labour says it is fixing the state so that it works for working people. Civil servants are working people, so this plan must also work for them.”

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