Jacob Rees-Mogg’s department has quadrupled in size, even as he recommends sweeping job cuts in Whitehall.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics this week show 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.
But 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.
The biggest numerical rise has been in the prison service, which is up 16,000 in five years. Almost half this increase came in the past year as ministers sought to fulfil a manifesto pledge of 10,000 more prison places.
