MoD set to cut 1,000 staff jobs

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The Ministry of Defence is to cut 1,000 jobs from its head office and relocate another 800 posts from London.

Almost a third of civilian posts at the London headquarters, off Whitehall, will be cut by 2010, said the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.

Admin, finance and personnel staff will be affected by the cuts.

The union reacted with "fury" to the news, claiming that new senior jobs were being created while other posts were being cut back.

The scale of reductions in military posts will not require redundancies Ministry of Defence

General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It is difficult to see how cutting 30% of staff and moving 800 out of London will not have a damaging impact.

"Staff will be further angered about the disproportionate impact the cuts will have on the lowest-paid, especially when they see the creation of new senior positions on six-figure salaries."

He said the MoD and the government needed to seriously rethink their proposals and address the concerns of staff by negotiating with the union.

In a statement the MoD said more resources would be released to the front line by "streamlining" the ministry's head office to ensure it was as efficient as possible.

'Radical change'

It said: "The streamlining programme will simplify the MoD's organisation and work, ensuring the ministry is focused on strategic tasks and better able to respond to priorities. Other parts of defence have undergone similar reforms."

It said £50m of ongoing savings which could be reinvested in operations would be released per year by reducing the head office staff by 25% - which would be the loss of about 1,000 civilian jobs and 300 military posts.

"The scale of reductions in military posts will not require redundancies," the MoD said.

The PCS warned further cuts to civilian support staff, as well as the disruption of relocating staff, would undermine the MoD's ability to support the armed forces.