A vote by members of the civil service's biggest union, PCS, to reject changes to the Compensation Scheme will not alter the terms of the recent deal on redundancy terms, the government has confirmed.
The Cabinet Office legislated to make a series of changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme – including cuts to overall exit payouts for officials – in early November, after talks with trade unions over the summer.
But while some unions – including the FDA and Prospect – urged their members to back the Cabinet Office's final offer to avoid more stringent cuts, PCS and the Prison Officer's Association did not accept the government's precondition that there should be any fresh reductions in exit payouts for officials. PCS members last week voted to reject changes dubbed "unnecessary and unfair" by the union.
PCS members reject "unnecessary and unfair" Civil Service Compensation Scheme changes
Compensation Scheme changes to kick in tomorrow – as PCS blasts "despicable act of bad faith"
Full details of the final offer
Michael Ellis, deputy leader of the House of Commons, was on Friday pressed on both the substance and process of the Compensation Scheme overhaul by Chris Stephens, the Scottish National Party MP who chairs PCS's parliamentary group.
Stephens accused the Cabinet Office of having "frustrated negotiations with trade unions and undermined the consultation process", pointing out that the equality impact assessment on the changes "was provided only once the consultation had concluded, despite repeated requests from trade unions and members of parliament".
"Without information on how different proposals would affect different groups of workers, it was extremely difficult to conduct meaningful consultation," he argued. "The government have taken a similarly obstructive approach to negotiations."
"It was extremely difficult to conduct meaningful consultation" – Chris Stephens, chair of the PCS parliamentary group
Stephens, who said the proposals would "destroy civil service morale" and "hinder future recruitment exercises" by making the civil service a less attractive employer, also claimed that Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer had failed to meet the 83 members of the PCS parliamentary group to discuss the changes before publishing the legislation.
"Such is the severity of the proposals that I firmly believe the government should have made a statement in the House, so that all members could question them on their proposals," he added.
Peter Dowd, a shadow Treasury minister, meanwhile said public services were already "under absolute stress and strain" and warned that "cutting wages, numbers and training" would leave Whitehall ill-prepared for the UK's upcoming exit from the European Union.
But, responding for the government, Ellis defended the spirit of the proposals, saying that the Compensation Scheme had become "too expensive" and that its terms were "increasingly out of line" with the rest of the public sector.
And he denied that PCS had been "barred" from discussions over the deal, hitting out at the union's response to the deal and saying the decision not to participate in negotiations had been made "solely by the unions concerned and not by the government".
The final offer had, he said, been the result of "constructive discussions" held with eight other unions.
"I regret to say that, unlike other unions, the PCS and the POA did not feel able to ballot their members and respond to the government within the requested timeframe" – Minister Michael Ellis
"The arrangements for the talks were satisfactory to eight trade union organisations; they were not satisfactory to the PCS, but that is a matter for it," he said.
The Cabinet Office gave unions until the end of October to ballot their members on the offer, but PCS, the largest union, was refused an extension to the government's deadline. As a result, its ballot was only completed after the changes had already been legislated for.
All unions had, Ellis argued, been given the same amount of time to respond to September's final offer and ballot their members in time to meet the deadline.
"However, I regret to say that, unlike other unions, the PCS and the POA did not feel able to ballot their members and respond to the government within the requested timeframe," he said.
"No indication"
While the minister acknowledged it could "take time for unions to make such arrangements", he claimed that the PCS had given "no indication that more time would be required" when the offer was first set out in September.
"Indeed, the issue was not raised at all until more than half the time intended for union consideration had elapsed, and even then a formal request for an extension to the deadline was not received by the government until some time after that," he said.
"By that point, the government did not consider any extension to the deadline to be either practical or fair on the other unions, which had made strenuous efforts to respond in time."
The minister said that while the government "will of course take note" of PCS's subsequent ballot of its members, he said the vote to reject the terms "does not change the fact that the government’s offer of revised compensation scheme terms was accepted by the large majority of unions consulted, or that the new scheme has now taken effect".
Stephens grilled the minister on what proportion of the civil service was represented by unions that had signed up to a deal, with Ellis promising to write to the PCS parliamentary chair with the information. The PCS has already said it is considering legal action against the government over its handling of the process.
Correction, 5/12: An earlier version of this story referred to the Scottish Nationalist Party. It is, of course, the Scottish National Party. Apologies – Matt