More than 2,000 jobs will be axed and around 1,200 people will be made redundant as part of sweeping cuts to the Civil Service, the Government has said.
Pat McFadden's Cabinet Office will cut its workforce by almost a third thanks to the cuts - and a source said on Thursday that the department was "leading by example".
The move has been met with praise from the TaxPayers' Alliance - but the group has still called on Labour to do more to secure a "smaller, sharper Whitehall".
Its media campaign manager William Yarwood told GB News: "Trimming Whitehall fat is a long-overdue step in the right direction.
More than 2,000 jobs will be axed - with around 1,200 people set to be made redundant altogether - as part of sweeping cuts on the Civil ServicePA"But cutting headcount means nothing without a full rethink of what the Civil Service is actually for.
"We need a smaller, sharper Whitehall - not just fewer bureaucrats doing the same box-ticking. Promises to slim down the state must be backed by action, not just spin."
McFadden had written to various Whitehall departments last week demanding they justify the existence of every "quango" or quasi-NGO.
And a Cabinet Office source, confirming the direct departmental cuts today, said: "Leading by example, we are creating a leaner and more focused Cabinet Office that will drive work to reshape the state and deliver our plan for change.
"This Government will target resources at frontline services - with more teachers in classrooms, extra hospital appointments and police back on the beat."
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Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little told civil servants in an all-staff call on today that the department would become "more specialist
PA
Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little told civil servants in an all-staff call on today that the department would become "more specialist" and better-suited to serve the public.
Some 540 voluntary redundancy applications had already been accepted after the launch of a scheme in January, but the department is understood to expect more voluntary departures after today as teams are restructured over the coming months.
Meanwhile in last month's Spring Statement, Rachel Reeves confirmed plans to cut Civil Service running costs by 15 per cent by the end of the decade - sparking fury from unions, who claimed that the impact of cuts would still be felt by the public.
It comes as a poll of MPs published by YouGov suggested that 64 per cent of the House of Commons believed the Civil Service was too risk-averse and shut off to new ideas, while 62 per cent thought Whitehall worked too slowly.
PICTURED: Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivering a speech where he announced NHS England will be abolished
PAAs such, Labour has been pushing to slash Whitehall spending - including on NHS England, which Sir Keir Starmer said he would abolish entirely.
But at the same time, and despite McFadden's letter, the Government has been sniffing out establishing a range of quangos.
Just days ago, Equalities Minister Seema Malhotra announced a call for evidence for an "equal pay regulatory and enforcement unit" - a union-backed race and disability body - over fears the Equality Act doesn't go far enough to ensure "equality" in the UK.
And a report in the Financial Times yesterday revealed that Ministers are drawing up plans to set up another two quangos in the areas of AI security and health data.
