The head of the civil service today condemned the decision by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) to stage a national strike later this month over job cuts and privatisation.
Cabinet secretary, Sir Gus' O Donnell, used a keynote address to the Guardian Public Services Summit to say the decision to go ahead with the stoppage next week did not have majority support among the union's 280,000 civil service members.
The PCS has scheduled the strike to coincide with the closing date for tax returns to maximise its protest against the ongoing job cuts and transfer of parts of the civil service to the voluntary and private sectors.
The government is gearing up to hive off elements of the employment and benefit services to the charities in the face of strong opposition from the union.
Sir Gus said the decision to strike as the first plank of continued industrial action planned by the PCS, had little legitimacy among rank and file members.
"I am disappointed that the PCS union is still planning to call industrial action despite the fact that only 23% of its members voted for the course of action," he said. "I don't think it is justified. My message is that to resolve these issues - which are rightly a concern, such as pay and conditions and job security - is through the discussions taking place."
Sir Gus praised the civil service workforce for continuing to improve services despite the 40,000 job cuts that have taken place so far as part of the 84,000 job cuts outlined by Gordon Brown two years ago under the efficiency review.
Speaking on a debate on the way the government will need to adapt as the state's role in public service delivery changes, Sir Gus reiterated that the private and voluntary sectors would play a greater role in delivering services traditionally carried out by civil servants and other public sector workers.
"We want to use the third sector for service delivery. We are getting into contestability of different suppliers so it should mean that consumers get a better service. On harder to reach groups the nature of the voluntary sector is that they have much more information and understanding of these groups."
Speaking of the future role of the civil service in delivery, Sir Gus said dealing with outside agencies such as the third sector and with private business should become the norm. "We need to think in the public sector not in terms of laying down the law... but working with partners."
Civil service managers are planning shadowing and staff exchange schemes with charity bosses as part of a joint work programme unveiled last night at the 20th anniversary of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, he said.
