Jacob Rees-Mogg’s own department has grown the most in the past five years, while an increase in prison staff is a key driver of recent rises in civil service numbers, it has emerged.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics this week show that the civil service headcount increased by 6,000 in the past year. Ministers have promised to cut jobs by 91,000 to return to levels seen before the Brexit vote.
Analysis by The Times finds that by far the biggest proportional rise in the past five years is in the Cabinet Office, from which Rees-Mogg, minister for government efficiency, is co-ordinating the drive to cut the civil service.
Cabinet Office numbers have almost quadrupled since 2017, standing at 9,930 in March. Rees-Mogg
