Public services in the UK are not in great shape. According to the latest CIPFA/Institute for Government Performance Tracker, every single major public service is performing worse than before the pandemic. This is despite government manifesto commitments to recruit more ‘front-line’ workers such as doctors, nurses and police officers. Cost-cutting and problems with staff retention mean that the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data show that public service productivity is still slightly below its pre-pandemic level. Earlier this year, the UK Chancellor announced an initiative to improve public sector productivity. Without improvement, current spending plans mean performance will get even worse.
According to the Institute for Government, one of the causes of these retention problems is declining staff morale. New data, collected as part of this autumn’s Labour Market Outlook, reveal the extent of the problem.
