The number of civil servants employed by central government has risen by 13 per cent to 565,000 since 1999 but this is still less than during the early 1990s, according to new figures fromthe Office for National Statistics.

Business leaders have criticised the government for creating too many public sector jobs which they say account for a large proportion of the recent rise in employment. The government's Gershon efficiency commissioned review has identified £21.5bn of potential savings which would involve the loss of 70,000 public sector jobs.