Senior figures have sought to reassure public sector staff that the government’s £10 million efficiency programme is not a direct job-cutting exercise, but will inevitably change roles through increased digitisation and AI.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Chief Minister Alf Cannan insisted the programme was about how services are delivered, not which services are provided.
“This programme is about how we deliver services, not what we deliver,” he said. “We are not trying to challenge departments in what services they are delivering.”
However, he and other leaders acknowledged that roles will change.
Mark Lewin, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are alive [to the fact] that roles will change. They are changing.”
He gave the example of AI drafting meeting minutes, which he said freed up staff from a task that “didn’t particularly give them the sense of purpose”.
Dr Megan Mathias, Chief Operating Officer, addressed staff anxieties directly, noting there was “a lot of excitement” about AI tools but also “a generalised concern about AI.”
She pointed to new training schemes as a response, saying the government is “investing in increasing training” to ensure people “aren’t left behind.”
The Chief Minister emphasised that staffing decisions remain with departments, framed as enabling better workforce management.
“This has never been about us determining that there should be headcount changes,” he said, “but this is about enabling departments to make better decisions about workforce management.”