Conference votes to push for new Model Redundancy Agreement

Motion A93 was moved by Amy from R&C Wales branch.

The motion referred to a previous government’s decision to withdraw from the established Civil Service Model Redundancy Agreement. This has resulted in an erosion of redundancy avoidance and mitigation processes, including a reduction in the redundancy consultation period, inconsistency across departments as well as increasing threats brought about by planned job cuts and the impact of the “return to office” policy.

Moving the motion, Amy said “Today, we stand united in the face of growing challenges to job security and dignity of civil servants across the UK…..We are navigating a fragmented system in which consistency, fairness and transparency have been replaced by departmental discretion, short-term fixes and varying levels of consultation.

“Instead of a collective national standard, we are left with an unpredictable and often unjust approach to redundancy. The government’s current stance reflects a strategy of decentralisation and departmental autonomy presented as modernisation and flexibility. But in reality, this has weakened core protections for civil servants. Many departments now default to the statutory 45-day consultation period, ignoring the more robust 90-day standard that once provided meaningful time for engagement and mitigation efforts.

“Meanwhile sweeping initiatives, such as large-scale office relocations, site closures, and rigid return-to-office mandates, have added to the uncertainty.  These changes often result in redundancy by stealth.”

The motion instructs the NEC to press the Cabinet Office for a meeting to discuss the restoration of a new Model Redundancy Agreement, which would be binding on all government departments, agencies and arm’s length bodies. The agreement should include, as a minimum, the restoration of a minimum 90-day consultation period, and the recognition of technological developments, which have allowed the concept of increased home-based working, to provide an essential tool in the avoidance and mitigation of redundancies.