Exclusive: Prospect boss Mike Clancy cites problems retaining technical and digital experts
Ministers must end “barking mad” restraints on civil service pay or risk being unable to recruit the technical and digital specialists it needs to keep pace, a union leader has warned.
Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said the government should end the “rightwing trope” that restrained the pay of highly skilled civil servants and left government unable to compete with the private sector. He said it should be realistic for senior specialists in competitive fields to be paid more than the prime minister.
His intervention comes after the prime minister’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, said he wanted more risk-takers and delivery experts to create a civil service that “moves fast and fixes things”, saying hiring criteria would be changed to “promote the doers, not just the talkers”.
Clancy said the civil service had significant issues retaining technical experts because of the low pay and lack of progression.
