"Britain Plans to Cut 10,000 Civil Servants Due to Fiscal Pressure"

The UK government, under pressure from the budget deficit, has decided to cut 10,000 civil servants as it seeks to streamline operations, British public broadcaster BBC reported.

According to a UK Government spending review report, there were 513,000 full-time central government officials as of 2024, a jump of more than 30% since 2016, with job cuts around 2%.

The number of civil servants fell to 380,000 in 2016 from 490,000 in 2010, when Labour's prime minister Gordon Brown left office, as Treasury Secretary George Osborne launched a strong fiscal tightening under David Cameron's government.

Then the UK's departure from the European Union and COVID-19 led to an eighth consecutive year of staffing growth, with newly launched Labour government Treasurer Rachel Reeves instructing ministries to look for parts to cut their budgets by 5% as she undertakes a public finance review.

However, a UK government spokesman said it was committed to improving technology and streamlining public services through the use of new technologies, without providing a clear target for job cuts yet.