Education strategy will suffer following job cuts at DfES

The government’s five-year education strategy for children and learners risks failure because of plans to cut a third of staff in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the PCS union has warned.

A union pamphlet, The government’s five-year strategy – Education at risk?, warns of a brain drain from the department and a proliferation of the use of consultants to cover the job losses.

The document goes on to warn that job cuts will not translate in to more resources for schools but merely direct public money into the pockets of private consultants and create fragmentation in the education system.

PCS DfES group president, Tony Conway, said: “Staff in DfES have said to us that the cuts programme is ill-thought-out and will undermine the government’s ability to deliver high quality public services. Shockingly we now have evidence that external consultants are being employed at £350 per day doing the work of civil servants. This is a waste of taxpayers’ money.”