Lack of investment in civil servants preparing for Brexit “beggars belief”, says FDA

23 Nov 2017 11:48 AM

Responding to Chancellor Philip Hammond's Autumn Budget 2017, FDA Assistant General Secretary Naomi Cooke said:

“£3bn of new money for Brexit preparation is to be welcomed but with the civil service at the heart of that preparation the lack of investment in the talent and hard work of civil servants is telling.

“The civil service needs to be able to recruit and retain the best people to deliver the best possible Brexit so the complete absence of any statement on pay for the 98% of civil servants not covered by Review Bodies beggars belief.

“The NHS rightly gets an indication of funding for negotiated pay reform at a time of immense pressure, so why not the same for a civil service facing unprecedented challenges?

“With Brexit front and centre, the civil service is delivering the most challenging government agenda in generations after losing a quarter of its most experienced staff.

“There is widespread acceptance that there needs to be pay reform in the civil service, for all grades, yet the Chancellor has again failed to meet the challenge. The government is more than happy to claim credit for collecting more taxes but refuses to recognise the skills and efforts of the civil servants who delivered that success.

“Departments must be given the funds and flexibility for a proper pay rise for civil servants, otherwise the cost of this short sightedness will affect the nation for generations.”

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. The FDA can be found on Twitter @FDA_union and at www.fda.org.uk. General Secretary Dave Penman tweets as @FDAGenSec.
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