Defra lawyers face savage job cuts
A government department is to make 42 lawyers redundant, the Gazette has learned, as solicitors warn of more job losses to come in public sector legal teams.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to make 40% of its 87 solicitors and 18 barristers redundant, as it seeks to meet government savings targets. At least one of the department’s most senior solicitors is understood to be affected.
The Defra legal department forms part of a body of about 2,000 lawyers who work for the Government Legal Service, which includes legal teams at the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, HM Revenue & Customs and other government departments. It is not yet known whether other departments will follow Defra’s benchmark of 40% redundancies among lawyers. However, if other departments were to follow suit, this could result in 800 Whitehall lawyers losing their jobs.
The government also employs 3,147 lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service, as well as others in the Serious Fraud Office, the Attorney General’s Office and elsewhere.
The government is aiming to make £6.2bn of savings in total, and local authorities have been told by the Treasury to find £1.17bn of savings. There are currently around 4,000 solicitors and trainees working in local government.
Mirza Ahmad, corporate director of governance at Birmingham City Council, said: ‘We are entering a new age of austerity and lawyers’ jobs are certain to be lost.’
Stephen Turner, chairman of Solicitors in Local Government, said he was ‘frightened’ by the job losses to come at a time when more local government lawyers were needed.
A Defra spokesman said he could not comment on the impact on the department of spending cuts.
Comments
This is speculation. Defra,
This is speculation.
Defra, like other non-protected Departments, has been asked to draw up proposals for how it could make savings of between 25 % and 40%, including a one-third saving on Admin budgets (which includes staff costs) as part of the Government-wide Spending Review. The outcome of the Spending Review will be announced on 20 October and at that point we will be able to confirm Defra’s budget for 2011 – 2015 and the savings we need to make as a result. It is too early to predict what the outcome of the Spending Review will mean for particular Defra policy and delivery areas.
Another Cull?
Looks like another mismanaged govt cull is on the way. But given the incompetence of Defra during the Mad Cow/Foot & Mouth disasters etc., this is hardly a great threat surely! My advice to its lawyers is make sure your injections are all up to date.