The government shares MPs concerns about the need to “retain a suitable cadre of internet specialists” at GCHQ, according to its official response to the joint intelligence and security committee annual report.

The report, published in July, called on government to investigate what more could be done “within existing pay constraints” to retain specialist staff and urged the Cabinet Office to consider whether “a system of bonuses for specialist skills” should be introduced to help retain cyber-security staff across government.

Responding to the report this week, the government said it “is taking a number of proactive steps to address the issue.”

Meanwhile former chancellor Alistair Darling has also raised concerns about government’s ability to retain staff. In an interview with CSW, Darling said talented staff may move to private firms offering better pay and opportunities.

“If you start losing key people then your intellectual ability to respond is then impaired, and that is a real problem,” he said. “It’s something that permanent secretaries and the head of the civil service need to be conscious of. I’m not arguing that you can’t operate with less people; you just need to make sure that you’ve got the right people.”

Research from management consultancy Hay Group showed last week that senior managers in the public sector earn around 60 per cent less than their private sector counterparts. This gap has remained consistent since 2000 but the group forecasts that it will widen in the next two years, with private sector pay rising by around six per cent while public sector pay rises by around three per cent.

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Written by CSW