The UK Treasury is offering officials voluntary departure payments of up to £100,000 ($136,790) as it pursues plans to reduce staff numbers by several hundred, according to people familiar with the plan.
Finance Minister Rachel Reeves is aiming to lower the department's headcount by approximately 300 employees from its current level of about 2,100 staff by 2030, sources say. The move forms part of a broader government drive to cut administrative costs across Whitehall by 16%.
Officials have been told that the voluntary exit scheme is the preferred route, but the Treasury may still need to implement mandatory redundancies if not enough staff accept the departure offers at its offices in London, Darlington, Norwich and Edinburgh.
Addressing the rationale for the package, the Treasury said: "The Treasury is the largest it has been on record, so during this period of stability it’s now right we reduce our size back to more normal levels through a voluntary exit scheme, in line with the whole of government."
The proposed voluntary payment - capped at £100,000 - is intended to encourage staff to take immediate departures rather than waiting for potential compulsory measures. The department's stated aim is to achieve its headcount reduction within a timeframe that extends to 2030.
The announcement covers multiple regional hubs as well as the department's London operations, indicating the package will be available across the Treasury's offices in the capital and in Darlington, Norwich and Edinburgh. If voluntary exits fall short of the target, the department has signalled it may resort to statutory redundancy procedures to meet its staffing goals.
The reductions are being framed by the Treasury as a reversion to more typical staffing levels after a period of expansion. The planned cuts sit within a government-wide programme targeting administrative efficiency and cost savings across Whitehall departments.
At this stage the plan is focused on prompting voluntary departures first, with the potential for compulsory redundancies preserved as a fallback if uptake proves insufficient.
Summary: The Treasury is offering up to £100,000 in voluntary exit payments to officials as it seeks to reduce its workforce by about 300 from roughly 2,100 by 2030, part of a Whitehall-wide push to cut administrative costs by 16%. The department said it may move to mandatory redundancies if necessary, with the scheme available across London, Darlington, Norwich and Edinburgh offices.