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Responding to reports of bullying complaints made against the Home Secretary, FDA General Secretary Dave Penman said recently:

“These reports lay bare the inadequacy of the current process that is neither transparent, formal nor independent.

“It is simply not good enough that there is currently no formal process for a civil servant to raise complaints against a minister.

“We’ve recently seen a major win for staff working within the Palace of Westminster, where there will now be a clear and independent process for investigating any complaint made against an MP.

“It’s unconscionable that 100 yards away in Whitehall, if the same type of complaint were raised against a minister in a UK government department then no such investigation would take place and staff would have no access to justice.

“Civil servants deserve to feel safe and respected in their workplace, and ministers deserve to have a fair hearing, with any complaints dealt with in a transparent manner.

“The government must stop dragging its feet on this; we urgently need an independent investigation process to properly protect staff. Change is long overdue.”

Notes for editors

1. The FDA is the union for senior managers and professionals in public service, representing more than 18,000 members at grades HEO and above. Membership includes senior civil servants, government policy advisors, prosecutors, diplomats, tax professionals, economists, solicitors and other professionals working across the 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. The FDA can be found on Twitter @FDA_union. General Secretary Dave Penman tweets as @FDAGenSec.

For more information contact:

• FDA Communications Officer Tommy Newell on 020 7401 5588, 07738 729 145 or tommy@fda.org.uk
• FDA Head of Communications Kay Hender on 020 7401 5586 or 07980 700 747 or kay@fda.org.uk