Reform plan 'dramatic' cut to civil service headcount

Reform plans to “dramatically” cut the number of civil servants if they win the next election, the party has said, despite the lack of government experience within the party.

- CAITLIN DOHERTY

Danny Kruger, who defected from the Tories last month, told a Westminster press conference that the party would not renew the leases on a number of government buildings, including those housing the Home Office and the Department for Transport.

He promised that the growth of the service in recent years will be “reversed” and pledged a “more concentrated government machine”, pledging to overhaul the code that governs Whitehall work.

The East Wiltshire MP was assigned the role of leading Reform’s preparations for government. The 51-year-old, who served as a shadow minister but has never held a cabinet role, told the press conference: “If we win the election we will have legislation drafted and ready to go, a new ministerial code and civil service code drafted, orders in council prepared, people lined up for key appointments, and it will all start on day one.”

He said that they were putting the “civil service on notice that under a Reform government we expect the headcount to fall dramatically”.