Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has taken recent steps to (a) increase efficiency in Government Departments and (b) reduce the number of civil servants.

The Government is committed to increasing efficiency in Departments. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury continue to deliver the efficiencies identified through the Efficiency and Savings Review undertaken earlier this year, building on the 5% efficiency challenge set at Spending Review 2021.

This summer the Cabinet Office published £4.4bn of savings generated by the government functions in 2021/22 as part of an ongoing programme. The Government also published the Government Efficiency Framework to drive efficiencies through more accurate reporting and appropriate oversight to track delivery.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a cap to the Civil Service's expansion, putting in place a plan to reduce its numbers to pre-pandemic levels and to increase public sector productivity.