The Department of Trade and Industry’s permanent secretary Sir Robin Young has told MPs that plans to axe a quarter of the department’s head office staff will not affect the service it provides business.
The department is due to lose 1,010 of 4,500 head office staff under the Gershon Review.
Addressing the trade and industry select committee, he said the department would continue to hit its targets, according to reports in the Financial Times. “It doesn’t mean 25 per cent fewer staff means 25 per cent less performance. It’s not like that,” he said.
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MPs were sceptical that the cuts would not affect the levels of service provided. Martin O’Neill, Labour chairman of the committee, said: “There’s going to be a reduction in what is already a pretty threadbare team, certainly by comparison with our main competitors.”
The Confederation of British Industry warned that the job losses must not damage the department’s level of service to business.
