Government ‘must not cut civil service redundancy compensation’

Posted 07/12/2009

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has called on the government to reach a compromise on its contentious plans to reduce the compensation entitlement for civil servants facing redundancy.

Mark Serwotka, PCS’s general secretary, criticised the Cabinet Office over the “outrageous lack of respect” shown by the decision, which he claims has been vocally opposed by around 35,000 union members.

The issue has already been raised by MP Dai Havard during Prime Minister’s Question Time, with Gordon Brown having defended the need for changes to the system.

However, the union fears that these plans will lead to widespread redundancies in the civil service, which will in turn lead to lower-paid staff missing out on the compensation to which they are entitled.

PCS is now planning to initiate legal and industrial action in order to try and force the government to back down on the issue.

Mr Serwotka said: “We sincerely hope ministers will meet us urgently to discuss ways of avoiding the dispute.”