Introduction

In his Budget Statement in March 2004 Chancellor Gordon Brown announced what many civil servants had long felt was just a formality: that the modernisation of the civil service would result in swingeing cuts in jobs across many government departments, especially, although not exclusively, those related to ‘welfare-focused’ services. Furthermore it became increasingly apparent that, despite media claims of a long-overdue cull of ‘bureaucrats in bowler hats’, a largely low-paid, increasingly angry group of workers would not only be at the frontline of delivering the central elements of New Labour's policy thrust in welfare reform, they would also bear the brunt of ‘efficiency’ drives to cut spending on public services.

Elsewhere in this book the key New Labour principle, that the ‘best welfare policy of all is work’ (Hutton, 2006), has been highlighted as pivotal to welfare reform. Yet, save their representation (alongside other public sector workers) as ‘wreckers’ (Blair, 2002) or as part of ‘the forces of conservatism’ (Blair, 1999, 2002), what are often overlooked are the very workers whose job it is to facilitate the transformation of welfare and public services. And all too often with fewer resources. A key aim of this chapter is to explore the impact of New Labour's attempt to drive down welfare costs on one group of workers at the very heart of service delivery: those in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

In this department, which counts Jobcentre Plus, the Pensions Service and the Child Support Agency among its ‘businesses’ (DWP, 2006a, p 1), it quickly became clear to workers that ‘releasing resources to the frontline’ (Gershon, 2004) would mean an unprecedented overall loss of 30,000 jobs in under four years and radical organisational, infrastructural and procedural changes. At the same time, government ministers and DWP bosses are increasingly charging these same workers with promoting ‘opportunity and independence for all through modern, customer-focused services … end[ing] child poverty by 2020 … [being part of] building a fair and inclusive society’ (DWP, 2006a, p 1).

In our view the study of this key group of workers gives us crucial insights into the central trajectories of welfare reform and the impact of New Labour policies on frontline workers.