Health Secretary slashes bureaucracy so more money can be directed to front-line services
Steve Barclay has axed one in six civil servants at the Department of Health and Social Care as he launches a war on government waste.
Government figures show hundreds fewer mandarins now work under the Health Secretary than at the start of Rishi Sunak’s premiership.
Some 3,978 civil servants were employed by the department on Oct 31, the start of Mr Barclay’s first full week in his current post.
This number had fallen to 3,316 by July 18, according to data released by the Department of Health and Social Care in response to a written parliamentary question tabled by Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.