Responding to concerns from public servants that managers seem to be ‘immune’ from staffing cuts, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, Alex Murphy, said:

"The whole point of the Government's spending cuts was to axe the back-office bureaucracy and prioritise frontline delivery, but by letting department heads put forward their own proposals on how these savings will play out, the executive class will no doubt continue to protect their own by hanging the junior staffers out to dry.

"But a simple look at the figures shows the problem doesn't just lie with the low-hanging fruit. In just the last 6 years, the number of managers across the Government's core departments has grown by a staggering 51% – that's almost twice the rate of social, health, and education workers and more than virtually every other job type. Instead of quietly shifting themselves away from the knife, Management should be first on the chopping block.

“As we've said time and again, letting department chief executives find and make these savings is like letting the foxes guard the hen house. If Ministers want to ensure that their cuts are being made in the right areas, then they should be the one's finding where to make them – it's as simple as that."

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