Government must reform civil service pay if it is to compete for the skills it needs, says Prospect union

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect trade union, responding to trailed elements of the Prime Minister's speech tomorrow, said: 

“Technology has the potential to transform government delivery and improve outcome for the public, and it is right that the government are pressing ahead with plans to make better use of new tech in the public sector.

“However the government will find it challenging to compete for the skills needed to deliver on this agenda under the current pay regime, which is why Prospect is campaigning for more pay flexibility to recruit and retain specialists in the civil service in areas like science and data.

"Government should also be doing more to utilise the talented specialists it already has at its disposal, many of whom are working in regulators and other agencies that have been starved of funding in recent years.

“Civil servants are not hostile to reforms, but these must be undertaken in partnership with staff and unions. I urge everyone in government to avoid the incendiary rhetoric and tactics we are seeing in the United States, and to be clear that reforms are about enhancing not undermining the civil service."