Exclusive:Scottish jobs 'deprioritised' as 2,100 Cabinet Office roles to be cut

Scottish workers will be encouraged to stay

Cabinet Office workers based in Scotland will be “deprioritised” from the flurry of cuts facing the department, The Scotsman has been told.

Officials at the Cabinet Office - headed by Pat McFadden - were told on Thursday that 2,100 of their 6,500 jobs would be cut or moved to other parts of government over the next two years.

The Cabinet Office has opened a second headquarters in Glasgow

Along with other reforms, the Cabinet Office claims the cuts will save £110 million a year by 2028.

However, The Scotsman understands the current voluntary exit scheme was weighted against losses from non-London locations, meaning staff in Cabinet Office’s 2nd HQ in Glasgow will be deprioritised for exits against those in London. The preference will be for staff in London to leave.

The 2,100 job cuts represent just under a third of the 6,500 “core staff” at the Cabinet Office - the strategic centre of the British state.

A Cabinet Office Spokesperson said: “We are furthering plans to make the Cabinet Office more strategic, specialist and smaller, so it can better serve the public and support the government to deliver the Plan for Change.”

Sue Gray, Louise Haigh, Tulip Siddiq and Andrew Gwynne have all left the government since the last time Blackpool tasted victory.

The Scotsman understands ministers are looking to increase the number of staffers out of London in places such as Glasgow, with more announcements expected in the coming months.

The Cabinet Office had previously aimed to move at least 500 civil servant jobs to Glasgow to work at the new secondary headquarters.

Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, told civil servants in an all-staff call on Thursday the department would become more specialist and therefore better able to serve the public.

Around 540 voluntary redundancy applications have already been accepted after the launch of a scheme in January, but the department is understood to expect more voluntary departures as teams are restructured over coming months.

Of the jobs to go, some 1,200 posts will be lost through voluntary and "mutually-agreed" redundancies or people not being replaced if they leave. A further 900 are being transferred to other government departments in an attempt to avoid duplication of work.

Trade unions have warned against significant cuts to the Civil Service, while the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff Baroness Sue Gray used her maiden speech in the House of Lords to urge caution on reducing the size of the civil service.

A former civil servant herself, Baroness Gray said her old colleagues were “central to the government’s and the nation’s mission to bring back growth into our economy and security to our society”.

Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, a trade union representing specialist civil servants, said: “The Cabinet Office has an important role to play operating the machinery of government, driving efficiency and reform, and ensuring other departments are fully aligned with and able to deliver the government’s missions.

“Blunt cuts of this scale will make it harder to play that role and could impact on delivery across government. Prospect will engage with the Cabinet Office throughout this process and will seek an assurance that there will be no compulsory redundancies.”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said:“We are furthering plans to make the Cabinet Office more strategic, specialist, and smaller so it can better serve the public and support the Government to deliver the Plan for Change.

"At the same time, we remain committed to growing our presence in key locations across the UK, including at our second HQ in Glasgow. Ensuring the Cabinet Office is more reflective of the country and the public it serves."