Civil Servants

[Albionic68]

Don't get me started on the DWP.

[Lost city albion]

Once the 90000 have gone nobody will notice the difference

[Omegstrat6]

I think that any organization or business -whether private or public-that grows too big is in danger of losing sight of its founding key objectives and open to the malaise of internal politics and empire building which hampers productivity and this is generally seen in middle management.

My own experiences with the NHS date back over two decades now but this had become increasingly the case then and was made worse by the general lack of business principles being applied, insufficient accountabilities being made and a kind of "jobs for life" attitude amongst many. Doubtless the same could be said of the Civil Service of the time. My brother has recently retired from quite senior positions within the NHS and whilst some of this still occurs a lot has changed and there are many very hard working and diligent managers working for it. I don't think that the contracting out of so many services has helped either.

Don't know if talk of these cuts in the Civil Service are part of recent comments by Reece Mogg about "laziness" and working from home (as also brought up by Alan Sugar)? I know a few people who manage home working staff and whilst there are some who do well, my impression is that there are many more whose work performance has fallen. Guess it depends too on what sort of work they do.

Don't think anyone can disagree that there are some obvious failings with the services provided by the Civil Service and I am sure that some of this can be blamed on mis-management and poor productivity but how will severe job cuts in it help? On the customer receiving end this will surely only lead to even more frustrating "automated services" and delays! On top of this, Matt is right in highlighting the increase in workload -and therefore staff- to deal with Brexit and then Covid (though I think 123 makes some valid points on this too).

There is a problem with the services provided by the Civil Service but this reaction seems very knee-jerk to me and primarily a way of saving the government money in its wage bill.

[mickd1961]

HMRC run them very close. NFFP. As in..... Not Fit For Purpose.

Spot on 68.

A couple of years ago I had a knock on my door a minute after arriving back from my afternoon run.

It was a lady HMRC officer, I politely invited her in even though it was inconvenient for me.

She was incredibly brusque and was enquiring why we’d failed to pay our staff PAYE for a previous month.

I was apologetic and explained that it would be the first transgression in 23 years of trading but she was very cold and matter of fact.

She then opened her lap top to show me the error of my ways only to find that my account was showing an amount of about £5000 “ not allocated “ but that had been paid by my wife.

It was their error, they’d had the money but failed to allocate it against the month it was due.

She struggled to offer a very weak apology.

I find them a terrifying organisation to deal with if I’m honest, my blood runs cold at the sight of a brown HMRC envelope.

They are actually one of the main factors in my decision to sell up and retire.

[baggieal]

Spot on 68.

A couple of years ago I had a knock on my door a minute after arriving back from my afternoon run.

It was a lady HMRC officer, I politely invited her in even though it was inconvenient for me.

She was incredibly brusque and was enquiring why we’d failed to pay our staff PAYE for a previous month.

I was apologetic and explained that it would be the first transgression in 23 years of trading but she was very cold and matter of fact.

She then opened her lap top to show me the error of my ways only to find that my account was showing an amount of about £5000 “ not allocated “ but that had been paid by my wife.

It was their error, they’d had the money but failed to allocate it against the month it was due.

She struggled to offer a very weak apology.

I find them a terrifying organisation to deal with if I’m honest, my blood runs cold at the sight of a brown HMRC envelope.

They are actually one of the main factors in my decision to sell up and retire.

Rishi Sunak says there’s anxious times ahead! Not for this c unt with 200 million and a non dom wife who fiddles her taxes legally so we are told! Mrs Sunak now pays tax but refuses to back date it and keeps her non dom status to avoid inheritance tax which we all have to pay.

Who decides on the financials/taxation and the way HMRC set up? Here lies the problem!