Kirklees and Calderdale have lost one in three of their civil service jobs since the Conservatives came to power – but in London it’s way less.
Shocking data reveals that the number of permanent full-time civil service staff in the two boroughs – along with Wakefield – has fallen from 2,640 in 2010 to 1,770 in 2016 – a drop of 870 jobs or 33%.
Nationally, there has been a 23.9% drop in such posts since 2010 – making the cut-backs in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 38% worse than elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
Clr David Sheard, leader of Kirklees Council, said the government had reversed a policy of moving departments into the regions and was “shifting jobs down south.”
That included transferring the office for the Northern Powerhouse – the government’s flagship policy for boosting the regional economy and creating jobs – from Sheffield to London.
Jobcentre closures, like the one announced for Batley, were also reducing staffing numbers, he said, adding: “The cuts have been greater here than elsewhere.”
Clr Sheard said it was “nonsense” for a government intent on making cuts to centralise more staff in London where costs were higher.
“The cost of office space is a lot cheaper in Kirklees and the government could make real savings if they moved staff up to Kirklees. That’s the ironic thing about it.”
He added: “Government has cut nothing like the number of jobs local authorities have had to cut.”
The figures published by the Office for National Statistics, showed that in Inner London West – where most government departments and executive bodies are based – the cuts have been shallower in proportion to the rest of the country, falling by just 3.8%.
The then-coalition government pledged a “bonfire of the quangos” in 2010, abolishing 192 government agencies and merging 118 more.
The data shows, though, that it is the regions of the UK – rather than the capital – that has lost most heavily on tens of thousands of jobs.
Outside of London, the number of full-time, permanent civil servants has fallen from 336,550 six years ago to 246,390 now. That is a loss of 90,160 jobs or one in four jobs (26.8%).
In London, though, the fall has been noticeably more modest, losing 7,720, from 73,690 to 65,970 or one in ten jobs (10.5%).
The number of all civil servants – including part time and temporary workers – has dropped from 527,000 to 418,360, or by 109,140.
Nationally, the data shows that women make up 54.2% of civil servants, but only 40% of those in the most senior ranks.
Some 11.2% of staff with a known ethnicity are non-white, but only 7% at the most senior levels.