Ministers must end “barkingly insane” restrictions on civil service pay or risk not being able to recruit the technology and digital experts needed to keep pace, a union leader has warned.
Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said the government must end the “right-wing trope” which has blocked the pay of highly skilled civil servants and prevented the government from competing with the private sector. He said it should be realistic to pay senior specialists in competitive fields more than the Prime Minister.
Darren Jones, the prime minister’s chief secretary, said he wanted more risk-takers and delivery experts to create a civil service that “moves fast and gets things done”, adding that hiring criteria would be changed to “encourage doers, not just talkers”.
Clancy said the civil service has significant problems retaining technicians because of low pay and a lack of advancement.
In an interview with the Guardian, Clancy also told the government to be more careful with its approach to deregulation and said it risked derailing its own employment rights law.
The union — which represents workers at several regulators — says resource allocation is a big reason for longer delays than regulations.
It said Natural England was unable to meet target response times for 1,316 planning applications, with 58% missing the deadline, as a result of poor resources such as lack of staff or specialist expertise. For the Environment Agency, 75% of deadlines are missed due to lack of resources.
“Government has not done enough and has not been strong enough to set a clear pay and reward agenda for those who deliver,” Clancy said. “If it’s interested in actively recruiting and retaining them, and if they’re the driver of the civil service mission, you can’t divorce it from salary. It’s a deep deterrent to government plans.”
“The government should reject some of the fraudulent elements surrounding civil service pay,” he said [at very senior levels] Equal to the level of Prime Minister.
“It’s all barking mad, playing with the right-wing trope of the civil service and actually being very careless about the nature of civil servants – in the MoD, in the Hydrographic Office, in the Met Office. They need to sort this out and the clock is really ticking on this.”
Clancy said the government should not make “stump speeches” about deregulation when there are frequent problems with delays in building infrastructure, housing or nuclear. “We believe that regulation is the key to productivity and good business growth, not an inhibitor. Regulators are builders, not blockers,” he said.
“I think this government really needs to get away from that. I think they feel pressured by business about regulation personally.
“If something is clearly difficult, gather evidence, have a conversation, change. But don’t give stump speeches, ‘We’re just going to sort it out,’ because you’ll sound like everyone else. [the Conservatives].”
Clancy is the TUC leader on employment rights legislation and says she is concerned about how furiously business is still lobbying against the changes. He said that the government should come forward more strongly to prove that there has been a fundamental change in the labor market towards workers.
But he said there was “every risk” of diluting measures on zero-hours contracts during the implementation phase of the law – with some other protections not due until late next year. Another manifesto promise to end bogus self-employment and provide single status to workers is “good”, he said.
“The Employment Rights Act is changing labor market orthodoxy,” he said. “Employee voice matters, individual rights are important and we want to continue to grow, not based on uncertainty.
“Now it’s a huge change for employers from what they’ve been used to — relatively unfettered power for a decade and a half.
“I think they need to be more confident in telling employers, ‘We’re going to listen to you, but yes, we’ve changed.’ And we’ve got to be committed to doing that.” means – because we think it’s a better and better labor market and productive.”
