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Deprivileging the public sector workforce: Austerity, fragmentation and service withdrawal in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Stephen Bach
Stephen Bach*
Affiliation:
King’s College London, UK
*
Stephen Bach, School of Management, King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Waterloo Campus, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The impact of the financial crisis has reignited debate about the scope and scale of public sector restructuring and its consequences for the workforce in Britain. The economic crisis precipitated austerity measures concentrated on expenditure reductions with the intention of reducing the public deficit. Because the public sector pay bill comprises over half of current public spending, achieving deficit reduction has major consequences for the total pay bill and the workforce. This article assesses the restructuring of the public sector and public sector employment relations in Britain and identifies underlying continuities in public sector restructuring over recent decades. Drawing on and repositioning New Labour’s legacy, the Coalition government used the economic crisis to establish a pro-austerity frame that has legitimated deep cuts in public sector employment and involved measures to refashion public sector employment relations. The article considers the consequences of this agenda and responses by trade unions and indicates some of the limits and uncertain prospects for public sector restructuring under conditions of austerity.

Keywords

H40H50H83J45Austerityemployment conditionsglobal financial crisismanagerialismpublic sector managementtrade unions
Type
Symposium Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 27 , Issue 1: Symposium: Public Service Employment Relations and Austerity: Challenges and Consequences , March 2016 , pp. 11 - 28
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2016

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