It is “almost certain” civil service staff numbers will be slashed as the government embraces digital technology, a cabinet minister has said.
Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle warned the headcount of the civil service “will go down” as AI is used in government departments to drive improvements.
Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast, Mr Kyle cited a report his department led, which found there was £45bn worth of productivity and efficiency savings to be made within government if it embraced AI.
“More than half or about half of all transactions is carried out by government or analogue,” he said.
“So that is for example, the DVLA opening 45,000 envelopes every single day.
“HMRC is picking up the phone 100,000 times every day – this is not the way we should be doing government. This is not the way we should be running a country in the 2020s.”
Asked how many government employees could lose their jobs to AI, Mr Kyle said: “It is almost certain that the headcount will go down. But it’s not going to be an arbitrary overall figure.”
Mr Kyle was speaking ahead of a speech Sir Keir Starmer will give today where he will announce that AI tech teams will be sent into government departments to “drive improvements”.
The prime minister is set to announce major reforms to the way the state works to “deliver for working people” and to ensure security in the new global “era of instability”.
His “intervention” will come following reports that officials are drawing up plans to cut thousands of civil service jobs as part of proposals dubbed “Project Chainsaw” – a reference to Elon Musk waving a chainsaw to represent his crusade to cut US government spending.
Downing Street on Wednesday rejected claims the government is “taking a chainsaw to the system”, saying it is focusing on “making the state more effective, more agile in a way that delivers for working people”.
The prime minister will set out proposals to recruit 2,000 tech apprentices to “turbo charge” the take-up of AI in Whitehall with the aim of modernising departments and making sure the government has the skills to overhaul public services using technology.
He will announce that new AI and tech teams will be sent into public sector departments “to drive improvements and efficiency in public services”.
Sir Keir will say: “No person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard.”
Downing Street said one in 10 civil servants will work in tech and digital roles within the next five years.
Global instability to accelerate changes
Sir Keir is also expected to argue that global uncertainty means the government must “go further and faster in reshaping the state to make it work for working people”.
He will vow to cut the cost of regulation for businesses by 25% and promise to refocus the state on his key missions and create “an active government that takes care of the big questions, so people can get on with their lives”.
And he will take aim at a “cottage industry of checkers and blockers slowing down delivery for working people” – after he instructed ministers on Tuesday to stop a “trend” of “outsourcing” decisions to “other bodies”.
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The PM will say: “The need for greater urgency now could not be any clearer. We must move further and faster on security and renewal.
“Every pound spent, every regulation, every decision must deliver for working people.”
He is expected to say he is “determined to seize” the “golden opportunity of artificial intelligence”.
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Starmer’s commitment to AI
In January, Sir Keir said the government would “mainline AI into the veins” of the UK as he claimed that if the technology is “fully embraced” it could bring £47bn to the economy each year.
On Monday, Sky News revealed the department for science, innovation and technology had carried out a trial using AI to reduce the number of minutes the public spends on hold to access government services.
The trial found waiting times could be cut in half by using AI, with Mr Kyle saying the technology was a win-win as it will save taxpayers’ money and make the experience better.
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The minister told Wilfred Frost that disruption does not always have to be “negative”, adding, “I think it can be a highly positive and rewarding experience”.
He added: “Yes, that will mean a leaner, smarter, smaller state over time – but it will also mean transforming relationships that people have with their government and their public services.
“These are things that excite people who are delivering those services, as well as those of us who are trying to deliver the change from the political side.”
