中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
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A secret blueprint to break up the civil service is revealed today. |
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David Cameron is facing a complete breakdown in relations with his mandarins as a secret blueprint to break up the civil service is revealed today. The plans put the country's 434,000 civil servants into four geographical pay zones, with those living in the south-west, on the south coast, Wales, much of the Midlands and the north-east earning least. Those in inner and outer London will be highest paid, followed by civil servants working in a corridor stretching from Bristol to the Thames estuary, and those in pay "hotspots" in Manchester and Birmingham. The Cabinet Office's Reward, Efficiency and Reform Group (Rerg), assisted by the Hay Group private consultancy, has drawn up a "local pay map" that will form the basis for how civil servants' pay is set for the next three years. It is understood ministers are working on estimates that show average earnings in the north-east are 10% lower than the UK average, 6% lower in the West Midlands, and 7% lower in Yorkshire and the Humber. However, the plans threaten to push relations with the civil service – already strained over the reform agenda – to breaking point. Ian Watmore, 53, who was in charge of cutting costs across departments and headed Rerg, quit last week, six months after he became permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, following a series of disagreements with his minister, Francis Maude. Huge consternation has followed the leaking of details last week of a fiery meeting between Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, and the prime minister's director of strategy, Steve Hilton. Hilton, who left Downing Street last week, is reported to have proposed that 90% of the work done by civil servants could be outsourced to thinktanks, charities and private companies. On Saturday, the shadow cabinet office minister, Gareth Thomas, said the government was in danger of losing any remaining goodwill and appeared to be "waging war on the pay of hard-working, often lowly paid, public servants". A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "We don't comment on leaks. In the civil service, pay is usually set on a 'one size fits all' basis at a national level, whereas in the private sector pay is set in accordance with local labour markets. This means civil servants are often paid more than private sector workers in similar jobs in the same area, which has the potential to hurt private sector businesses." (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一张有关英国公务员的秘密“薪酬地图”近日遭到泄露，英国首相大卫-卡梅伦很可能因此和同僚们把关系搞僵。 这张“地图”将英国43.4万名公务员按任职地理位置归入四大“付薪地区”：西南区、南部沿海区、威尔士区、以及中西部大部分地区和薪水最低的东北区。伦敦附近的公务员收入最高，排在之后的是从布里斯托尔到泰晤士河口这一走廊地带的公务员，以及曼彻斯特和伯明翰等薪酬“热点地区”的公务员。 在合益私人顾问集团的协助下，英国内阁办公室的“奖励、效率和改革小组”已制定出未来三年的“地区薪酬支付地图”，该地图将构成公务员薪酬支付的基础。据称，按照部长们制定的预算，东北区的公务员薪酬水平比英国平均水平低10%，西米德兰郡要低6%，约克郡和亨伯地区要低7%。 这张“地图”可能会让英国公务员之间的紧张关系一触即发，此前的公务员改革计划已经让政府内部的气氛剑拔弩张。 53岁的伊恩•瓦特摩尔于上周辞职，他曾经负责削减政府部门运营成本，也是“奖励、效率和改革小组”的负责人。他任职内阁办公室常任秘书共6个月，但和他的部长-弗朗西斯•莫德有很多分歧。 上周，公务员主管鲍勃•科尔斯莱克爵士和首相的战略主管斯蒂文•希尔顿进行了会晤，他们的会谈内容被泄露了出来，令众人惊愕不已。 据报道，上周离职的希尔顿提议，现在英国公务员所做的工作中，90%可以外包给智库、慈善机构和私人公司。 上周六，影子内阁办公室负责人加雷斯•托马斯说，政府看上去正遭受失去信誉的危险，看起来是在“拼命削减那些努力工作、通常收入不高的公务员薪酬。” 内阁办公室的一位发言人说：“我们对于信息的泄露不予置评。行政部门的薪酬通常按照国家标准采取‘一刀切’的政策，但在私营部门，薪水是根据当地的劳动力市场制定的。这意味着在同一个地区的类似工作中，公务员的工资通常比私营部门的员工要高，这有可能伤害到私营经济。” 相关阅读 （中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑：陈丹妮） |
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Vocabulary: mandarin: 这里指同事，同僚 the Midlands: 英格兰中西部各郡 estuary: 河口，江口 consternation: 惊慌失措，惊愕 wage war on: 向……开战 one size fits all: 一刀切，万全之策 |
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