Today, the Chief of the Civil Service warned MPs that the Treasury’s proposal to cut 490, 000 public sector jobs would almost certainly mean the implementation of compulsory redundancies.
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Sir Gus O’Donnell advised that forced job losses would be “part of the answer” to support the Chancellor, Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP’s spending review which was announced last week.
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Sir O’Donnell’s comments will come as a particularly heavy blow to those working for Regional Development Agencies (RDA’s) who are trying to digest the 2700 job cuts coming their way. RDA’s are to be restructured into local enterprise partnerships that will pool funding and resources from local authorities and private organisations, alleviating £1.1bn of central government spending. This is part of the Business Secretary, Rt. Hon. Vince Cable MP’s scheme to improve regional economic growth across England.
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The coalition government’s review of public sector expenditure was defended by Lord Hessletine, former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister, who will be responsible for the regional growth fund:
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“Everyone is concentrating on the half million jobs lost in the public sector – that is about the same number of jobs that go because people retire every year in the public sector. If you see it over five years it is 100,000 jobs a year.”
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