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🚨PCS PRESS RELEASE:
PCS Calls for Urgent Pause to FCDO Job Cuts after Permanent Secretary Exit
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union is calling for an immediate halt to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) restructuring programme following the departure of its Permanent Secretary, Sir Olly Robbins.
PCS, which represents staff across the department, has consistently opposed the plans, which include cutting up to 25% of jobs, affecting approximately 2,000 staff. The union warns these reductions risk stripping the department of vital expertise at a time of growing global instability.
The restructuring programme has already been criticised by the International Development Committee (IDC) as rushed and financially driven; with warnings it could damage the UK’s international capability. Despite calls from the IDC to pause the plans, Robbins refused.
His departure now raises serious questions about the decisions taken under his leadership. PCS believes the scale of the proposed cuts, combined with the absence of a clear workforce plan, leaves the department exposed and risks undermining its ability to respond to international crises.
FCDO members are currently being balloted for industrial action, with the ballot closing on 20 April, amid growing fears that job cuts are already affecting the department’s ability to respond to the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
The union has also raised concerns about a pattern of behaviour during Robbins’ tenure, including allegations of bypassing established recruitment processes and misleading Parliament. During a Foreign Affairs Committee session Robbins stated both that he was unaware PCS was in dispute and that he had seen a letter formally notifying him of that dispute, statements PCS says cannot both be true.
PCS has further criticised comments suggesting that staff who fundamentally disagree with government policy, particularly on Gaza, should consider resigning. These remarks followed a letter signed by more than 300 officials raising concerns.
PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said:
“This reckless programme of cuts must be stopped immediately. Stripping out a quarter of the workforce with no credible plan is not reform, it’s vandalism.
“Staff are being pushed to breaking point while being told by the now departed Permanent Secretary, Olly Robbins, to stay silent or leave if they disagree on an issue. That is not how a modern civil service should operate. His departure provides the opportunity for a reset.
“The government must now step in, halt this damaging restructure, and start listening to the workforce before lasting harm is done to the UK’s ability to operate on the world stage.”
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