A - Z of Issues

Accountability
It is often difficult for officials to defend their own actions without seeming to take a personal view on the merit of the policies they execute, and in a non-political civil service this cannot be permitted. Officials are accountable to ministers and subject to their instruction, but they are not directly accountable to parliament in the same way. This is the basis of the Osmotherly Rules - the conventions in current use on departmental evidence in response to Select Committees - whereby officials may decline to answer questions touching on the merits of policy, referring such matters to their ministers. The FDA believes it is essential that the Osmotherly Rules remain a firm defence of the rights of officials appearing in public.

Civil Service Act
The FDA believes that a Civil Service Act would help to enshrine and protect the professional, impartial role of the civil service - particularly in the face of constitutional change and the modernisation agenda. After 150 years in existence, the civil service still has no legally separate identity or constitutional role.

A Civil Service Act should be introduced to define the role of the civil service and make clear the boundaries between it and the elected government. It should also state explicitly a limit on the numbers of special advisers.

More information on the FDA's work to bring about a Civil Service Act will soon be available on this site.

Fast stream pay
With greater competition to recruit the very best graduates, fast stream pay must be improved with higher ranges and faster progression reflecting the external labour market.

Information technology
All civil service employers should ensure that employees in FDA grades have access from their desks to email and the internet, through the Government Secure Intranet.

Long hours/Overtime*
Staff should not consistently have to work beyond their conditioned hours, and they should be fully remunerated for all those occasions when they are required to work excess hours and are unable to take time off in lieu.

Performance management*
Performance management systems must be seen as being fair, open and transparent so individuals understand on what basis their performance is judged and assessed. Where disputes arise, an effective appeals mechanism must be in place.

Political impartiality
The FDA is committed to upholding the politically impartial values of the civil service and believes that this principle should apply to all civil servants serving the UK, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland administrations.

Public Private Partnerships
The FDA believes in quality public services and in the commitment and ability of the UK's public servants.

There is a perfectly proper debate to be had about the balance between public and private provision of essential services, but this debate must be open, honest and transparent. All PPP/PFI contracts and all the underlying assumptions and public sector comparators should be publicly available. Employment conditions of staff should also be declared in advance, and equality and diversity commitments included.

Retirement age
Any member should have the right to a flexible decade of retirement between 55 and 65.

Senior Civil Service Pay
The FDA has urged the government to ensure that adequate funding is made available for SCS pay to properly reward staff, and to remotivate and encourage them. The new SCS pay system is an improvement on the previous system but the government's refusal to allocate sufficient additional money has adversely affected progression rates and target salaries, and undermines its commitment to the SCS.

Special advisers
Special advisers play an important role on the interface between the politically impartial civil service and politicians.

They undertake work that is necessarily political in nature and, when working within civil service guidelines, help civil servants to remain politically impartial. The FDA does, however, believe that a Civil Service Act is needed to define and protect relationships between the various parts of government, and to stipulate a ceiling on the number of special advisers.

Stress
Increasing levels of stress have been reported by more and more FDA members. Too much stress threatens the physical and mental health of workers and is a health and safety issue. Employers have a clear duty to ensure that safe systems of work are in place to protect staff from the harmful effects of stress. Employing bodies should undertake stress audits, the findings shared with unions and employees, and the results acted upon.

Work/life balance
More family friendly policies must be implemented as part of the commitment by the government to "a better deal for staff".

Allowing staff to achieve a better balance between their work and home lives is a long-standing FDA policy. Alternate working patterns such as job sharing, part time working and home working should be made available to staff, even at the most senior levels. If you would like to discuss any of these, or other issues further, please contact the FDA press office on 020 7343 1120.