Labour has been accused of “mimicking Elon Musk” as the government announces fresh reforms to make it easier to force out underachieving civil servants along with new performance-related bonuses for senior Whitehall officials.
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden says this initiative is part of plans to “fundamentally reshape how the state delivers for people”. However, critics have warned Labour not to follow in the footsteps of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the US.
Since Trump arrived back in the White House, DOGE has claimed to have saved $55 billion by cutting back on a range of services, including in the civil service. Last month, Musk controversially sent out a blanket email to federal employees asking for a response about their weekly accomplishments or risk termination.
Britain’s civil service unions are now on alert, fearing they will have to step in when the government announces these plans in the coming days. Under them, the highest-paid bosses will face stricter performance monitoring, with those deemed falling short will be given six months to improve or face dismissal.
They also include a new performance-related pay system to reward outstanding officials responsible for delivering the government’s five missions.
“Those who do not meet the standards required will immediately be put on a personal development plan, with a view to dismiss them if they do not improve in six months,” a government spokesperson revealed.
“Civil servants who do not have the skills or can’t perform at the level required to deliver the government’s plans will be incentivised to leave their jobs, as an alternative to lengthy formal processes,” the spokesperson added, saying that the plans would also allow ministers to “quickly weed out underperformance among the highest paid civil servants.”
Using language similar to Trump, McFadden said Keir Starmer’s party is willing to “disrupt the status quo” as part of its pursuit of an active and productive modern state.
“The state is not match fit to rise to the moment our country faces,” he declard. “It is a too common feeling in working people’s lives that the system doesn’t work for them. With our mandate for change, this government will fundamentally reshape how the state delivers for people.”
He continued: “Our plan for the civil service is one where every official is high performing and focused on delivery. To do this we must ensure we go further to ensure those brilliant people who can deliver are incentivised and rewarded, and those who can’t are able to move on.”
The head of the FDA, a union for civil servants, Dave Penman said: “If the government is serious about transforming public services they must set out what the substance of reform looks like, not just the retreading of failed ideas and narratives.
“In the absence of big ideas, we have seen previous governments peddle the narrative that public services are being held back by a handful of poor performers in the senior civil service.”
Late last year, Penman wrote to Keir Starmer urging him to rethink his “frankly insulting” and “Trumpian” language after he said that “too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline.”
Related: ‘Now we have the same number of MPs…’ – Farage skewed by Green Party