Ministers are drawing up plans to cut thousands of civil service jobs and reduce the size of Whitehall as part of a three-year review of government spending.
The Treasury has told departments to identify cuts in day-to-day budgets before the comprehensive spending review this autumn.
Ministers and officials have been told that they need to reverse headcount increases as a result of Brexit and the coronavirus. Civil service numbers have significantly increased every year since the EU referendum in June 2016.
“Cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries have been told by the Treasury that the headcount is unsustainable and needs to be significantly reduced,” a senior government source said.
Stephen Barclay, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who is leading the spending review on behalf of
