David Cameron and George Osborne have asked for suggestions from the public for cuts in state spending. I suggest that there are too many civil service posts. Many result from unnecessary legislation, primarily under Labour, but the Major government was not guiltless. However, there seem to be areas of administration where there are just too many people for the jobs they are meant to do. Ministry of Defence staffing is a prime example.
According to Liam Fox, quoted in defencemanagement.com last year:
"there is one civil servant in the MoD for every two members of the armed forces. At the same time, the 28,000 staff working on procurement is not far short of the Royal Navy's entire staff of 34,000"
Contrast that with the days of Samuel Pepys, Charles II's secretary to the admiralty board. Defence acquisition typically involved takeing a boat over to Deptford, checking out the yards and ordering the building of a ship from the selected contractor. (To his discredit, Pepys would occasionally take a sweetener, but there is no evidence that the nation got a poor deal as a result.) This was in addition to all his other duties, assisted by just two clerks.
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A Review of Initial Teacher Training Provision in Wales was written for WAG back in Jan 2006. Produced by John Furlong et. al. by the University of Oxon, Dept, of Educational Studies.
Quite a comprehensive document in which on of the many recommendations was to reduce the number of ITT Colleges in Wales to three by September 2010, specifically:
Recommendation 5 That the Welsh Assembly Government, HEFCW and providers plan for a
reduction, in the next five years, of numbers of ITT targets so that they more closely match the
numbers of NQTs required in Wales. In primary, the initial plan should be for a reduction of 50% of
2005 provision and, in secondary, 25%. Plans should be revised, year on year, between now and 2010
as more precise information on supply and demand becomes available.
Recommendation 8 That Wales should move over the next five years to an entirely postgraduate
entry route for teaching and that the BA (Education) degree in Wales should be phased out.
Recommendation 14 That Wales should establish three main Schools of Education and that HEFCW
should, in the future, assign ITT numbers to each of these three Schools with a view to ensuring
strong, regionally based provision that meets the national need.
Recommendation 16 That the three Schools of Education should be as follows: the North and
Central Wales School of Education; the South East Wales School of Education; the South West Wales
School of Education.
Recommendation 17 That the Welsh Assembly Government provides indicative ITT numbers for a
restructured sector by April 2006 and that HEFCW draws up a plan for the distribution of these
numbers by June 2006. That the new Schools of Education are required to come forward with detailed
plans for their new Schools, including funds needed to support the reconfiguration, by June 2007.
Recommendation 18 That the reconfiguration of the sector is complete by September 2010.
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