To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions in the number of civil servants on the (a) capacity and (b) efficiency of the Civil Service.

The Prime Minister’s announcement of longer term reductions in Civil Service numbers is a reiteration of the policy announced by the Chancellor in October 2023. The longer term reductions will build on the shorter term headcount cap put in place through to March 2025, and the detail of how individual organisations will be affected by the return to pre-pandemic numbers will form a key part of the next comprehensive spending review.