Ministry of Justice facing £2bn cuts
Updated on 10 August 2010
Around 15,000 jobs could be axed as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) leaks plans to cut £2bn from its £9bn budget. The PCS union warns Channel 4 News the move could see prisons shut down and courts grind to a halt.
One of the government's largest departments, the MoJ has been told job cuts are inevitable, despite having already axed 1,000 jobs over the last three years, in a bid to shave £1bn from its budget.
Nick McCarthy, senior national officer for law and justice at the PCS union, told Channel 4 News he feared the government cuts are "heading us into a double dip recession, and making things worse".
His colleague, general secretary of the PCS Mark Serwotka said: "This is the first indication of the true scale of the cuts being imposed upon departments by this coalition government, and it paints a devastating picture."
He described the intended cuts as being the "equivalent to the entire budget for prisons, or the money the department spends each year on courts and tribunals".
Mr Serwotka warned of prison closures and courts being brought to a standstill. He said it was clear the civil service "will simply not be able to cope".
The union claims around 15,000 of the 80,000 staff at the MoJ could be at risk.
Mr McCarthy told Channel 4 News that the cuts would no doubt mean jobs would have to go.
"It's a huge saving - it’s the equivalent to the entire budgets for the courts and the tribunals, the entire budget for the prisons," he said.
"It's inconceivable that this type of cut can be made without huge job cuts in the department."
MoJ Leak
Details of the cuts were exposed in a letter sent to MoJ staff and forwarded to the PCS union by the department.
In the letter to senior civil servants, Ann Beasley, the department's director general of finance, wrote: "There will have to be less of us as we cannot streamline the organisation to work effectively and efficiently without considering staff numbers.
"The scale of the savings we will have to make are extremely challenging and, given our current budget of around £9 billion, are expected to be around £2bn," she said.
"The level of savings we expect to have to make from our headquarters and administrative areas alone is around £450m - around one-third of our current administrative costs. This is in line with the one-third savings required by Government.
"Many savings will have to be made quickly within the first 12-24 months. Efficiencies alone will not be enough. It will mean we have to look at every opportunity to work differently and better. It will also mean there will have to be less of us.
"Over £4bn of the department's current budget is spent on staff costs and we cannot streamline the organisation to work effectively and efficiently without considering staff numbers."
Ms Beasley added: "Staff will be understandably concerned.
"Now, more than ever, it is important that you take every opportunity to talk to them, listen to their concerns, invite their ideas and views and be honest about what we do and don't know and when we will tell them more."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said it has submitted proposals for savings to the treasury.
"Like all departments we were asked to plan for savings of 25 per cent and 40 per cent as part of the coalition Government's deficit reduction plan," he said.
"We are discussing options with treasury and will not provide a running commentary on the process. No decisions have been made.
"The outcome of the Spending Review will be announced on 20 October."
