The Office for National Statistics has released figures showing how bloated the UK’s public sector is. According to the ONS, 23,000 extra workers joined the public sector in the three months to September; over the same period of time, employment rose in the private sector by 29,000 although many of these were part-time jobs.

The biggest public sector recruiter is the NHS which employs 1.6 million people.

6.09 million people are now said to be working for the State – the equivalent of 1 in 5 people of working age.

One of the major reasons behind the rise in public sector workers has been the reclassification of the Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland which are now part-owned by the taxpayer.

Pay rises in the public sector have also out-stripped private sector raises – public sector workers were given an average pay rise of 2.8 percent in October compared to just 1.1 percent for those in the private sector.

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