SKILLED PROFESSIONALS AND SPECIALIST STAFF IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

That this House shares the concerns of Prospect and other trade unions that the Government's depictions of public sector workers as unaccountable bureaucrats and burdens on the taxpayer are unfair and untrue; is concerned that the Government's plans to reduce the public sector by over 400,000 staff will result in the loss of skilled professionals and specialist staff who work in areas as diverse as forensic science and forestry; further shares the concerns of Prospect and other trade unions that the loss of tens of thousands of skilled workers will entail the loss of valuable public services and fuel unemployment in both the public and private sector; and urges the Government to rethink its decision to axe so many skilled and professional workers and to rethink the language it uses to describe them.