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       Why Keir Starmer is taking a chainsaw to public sector spending (Image: Jaimi Joy-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

       Operation Chainsaw is the name some wag in the civil service has given the government's latest initiative to reduce the costs of running public services. I assume most civil servants dislike Mr Musk and his tough saw toting approach to state spending . There is a biting irony in this description of a new policy as they would not welcome a chainsaw approach to slimming down the fuller figure public sector.

       They would point out that state employees should be treated well and have employment rights. An email from the boss does not equate to a fair dismissal. They say they are all needed to do important jobs which Ministers have required. Indeed, the Head of the FDA civil servants has gone further and said frequent changes of political leadership in recent years is one of the reasons costs have gone up.

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       So why is a government well disposed towards the public sector and its Trade Unions rubbing them up the wrong way and claiming they can do more for less? It is because there has been a disastrous crash in public sector output per employee. Ministers have woken up to the collapse in productivity. It started with the lockdowns which reduced non covid health work, kept children at home and impeded other public services.

       Covid was used as a reason to expand staff numbers whilst letting output fall. Recovery has been poor in the public sector.

       The fall is so big it is costing taxpayers around another ￡40bn to provide the same level of service as six years ago.

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       No government can afford to let this continue. The private sector too did suffer bad productivity falls over lockdown but has recovered all the losses since.

       None of this means a hack it to bits approach is a good one. Improved efficiency should mean higher quality. It means getting more things right first time to cut the costs of remedial treatment and compensation.

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       It means doing things promptly as delays mean more work. You have to send holding replies and deal with user complaints if you keep people waiting.

       It means good training and bonuses for staff who then take pride in hitting targets to deliver great customer service. It will mean fewer managers as the civil service has got very top heavy with many more in management roles.

       Too many managers make demands on staff that get in the way of them doing their prime jobs of helping service users. It means fewer people regulating and supervising and more doing.

       The Chancellor assumed in her budget that the public sector would achieve a 2% a year efficiency improvement, given the power of modern computing and the benefits from investing in more computers and automation to help staff.

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       Instead it has continued to get worse. Enter Pat MC Fadden, an experienced Minister and a strong ally of the Prime Minister. He is starting work on the detailed actions needed to restore and increase the output of the public sector with fewer staff.

       He will expect more of well paid senior managers, and manage out the ones who cannot deliver.

       He will seek to link bonus payments more directly to achieving sensible goals of improved efficiency. There is much more he will need to do to make this all work. That is a story for another day.