Reform, a think tank organisation, said most admin staff could be replaced by switching over to websites and AI chat bots.

The prediction for the year 2030 sees 130,000 public sector admin staff being replaced by bots, which is the vast majority of those workers down at Whitehall – with claimed savings to the tune of £2.6 billion annually.

The rest of the quarter of a million roles would come from cutting admin staff in the NHS (90,000) and replacing receptionists in GP practices across the UK (24,000) with similar website/chat bot systems. That could lead to a further saving of £1.7 billion, so total savings of such automation are projected to be well over the £4 billion mark.

The think tank thought that more highly-skilled roles such as doctors could go because machines could perform more accurate diagnoses and potentially some routine surgical procedures.