WIREDGOV

Now is the time to change the Government's approach to public sector pay, says FDA

The FDA has yesterday published its latest written evidence submitted to the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) regarding pay for Senior Civil Servants (SCS). Based on the largest external pay survey of current senior civil servants, the FDA has called for major reforms to the approach taken to pay for civil servants.

The challenges of Brexit and existing Government priorities are pushing the service to its limits, while the SCS work more hours for falling real-terms pay. A significant 94% believe the current reward framework is not fit for purpose and more than a quarter want to leave the civil service as soon as possible. Only a fifth of senior civil servants believe their department has sufficient resources to meet the demands of the year ahead, while two-thirds are now more inclined to look for a job outside the civil service than they were 12 months ago.

FDA General Secretary Dave Penman said of the union's evidence: 

"Fresh from reducing the size of their departments, the SCS is now tasked with implementing Brexit on top of all of the Government's existing priorities. To quote one member, '…the country needs a civil service that is optimistic, energised, proud, confident and ambitious - what we have is a senior civil service that is thoroughly dispirited and demotivated.'

"Some haven't seen a pay rise in a decade, all have seen their pay cut in real terms by around a quarter. The strain of the pay freeze and staff reductions is taking its toll. The previous Chancellor's policy of public sector pay restraint has led to a demoralised workforce and a civil service now reliant on expensive contractors and salary premiums for new hires.

"This Chancellor needs to take a more realistic position and heed the FDA's call for real investment in the SCS, not a never ending series of temporary fixes dreamt up on the hoof that end up being a costing the public more than before the pay restraint began."

Notes for editors

1. The FDA is the trade union for the UK's senior public servants and professionals at grade HEO and above. FDA membership includes more than 18,000 senior civil servants, diplomats, Government policy advisors, prosecutors, tax professionals, economists, solicitors and other professionals working across Government and the NHS.
2. The FDA (formerly the First Division Association) should be referred to simply as "The FDA" and can be described as "the senior public servants' union".
3. Written evidence to Senior Salary Review Body.
4. The FDA can be found on Twitter @FDA_union and at www.fda.org.uk.
5. For further information contact

• Dave Penman, General Secretary, tel: 020 7401 5555 or 07967 503827.
• Kay Hender, Communications Manager, tel: 020 7401 5555 or 07980 700747.