Whitehall HR urged to get ready for storm

HR functions across Whitehall will need to be on top form to prepare departments for the “shock wave” of the government’s cost-reduction scheme, according to Conservative Party adviser Sir Peter Gershon.

With the public-sector pay bill standing at £174 billion in 2008, and procurement costs totalling £220 billion, HR skills will be very much at the forefront of reducing “unsustainable” spending, Gershon told the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s public-sector summit in London last week.
 

It’s untenable to have a normal retirement age in public-sector schemes that is significantly different from the state retirement age

Brian Bailey, Director of pensions, West Midlands Pension Fund and member of High Pay Commission