About the FDA

About the FDA



The FDA has over 17,000 members working in civil service departments and agencies, quangos, public bodies and the National Health Service.

Like most trade unions the FDA has a federal structure consisting of branches, which represent particular workplaces, and sections which represent particular professional groups. There is also a national executive committee, president and general secretary. The FDA has a staff of around 25 people based in offices near Waterloo Station.

Like all trade unions, the FDA is a democratic organisation. Members elect representatives to sit on the FDA's ruling executive committee as well as the general secretary and the president. Overall policy is controlled by the Annual Delegate Conference which meets every year in May. All FDA branches are entitled to send delegates to the conference.

Branches
Branches are the basic unit of FDA organisation. Most departments and public bodies employing FDA members have their own branch, although some small workplaces are amalgamated into a single branch. Most members in executive agencies are in a common branch with colleagues from the parent department.

Each branch is run by a small committee and has an elected convenor (chair) and secretary. Many routine negotiations and personal cases are handled by branch officials, but each branch has a designated negotiator at head office who handles more serious cases and generally advises the branch on professional and employment issues.

Branches send delegates to the FDA's Annual Delegate Conference but do not elect members of the executive committee, who are chosen on a section-wide basis. Each branch has a 'link person' on the committee.

Sections
Sections group together FDA members in similar professional groups. The FDA's sections are:
  • ARC (HM Revenue and Customs section)
  • Crown Prosecution Service
  • Culture (includes museums, galleries and libraries)
  • Legal
  • HMI England (Ofsted - schools inspectors)
  • HMI Scotland (schools inspectors)
  • HMI Wales (Estyn - schools inspectors)
  • Northern Ireland Senior Officers
  • Procurator Fiscal Service (Scottish crown prosecutors)

    Executive committee
    The FDA's 25-strong executive committee runs the union between conferences. It meets once a month to oversee the work of the union, set priorities and determine union policy. But it must work within the policies set by the Annual Delegate Conference and is bound by the decisions of conference.

    Head office
    The general secretary is the most senior member of the FDA's staff and is effectively the union's chief executive.

    The general secretary is elected by the whole membership and serves for a five-year term. The general secretary is responsible to the executive committee for FDA head office and the day-to-day business of the union. He or she is also the 'public face' of the FDA and represents the union's interests at the most senior level. As well as the general secretary, the FDA has around 25 staff based in its head office in Waterloo.

    Affiliations and links
    The FDA is affiliated to the following organisations:
  • Trades Union Congress
  • Scottish TUC
  • Welsh TUC
  • Irish Congress of Trade Unions
  • Council of Civil Service Unions

    Also:
  • European Federation of Public Service Unions
  • Campaign for Freedom of Information
  • Daycare Trust
  • Civil Service Pensioners Alliance
  • Public Services International

    The FDA membership:
  • 97% of members work in the UK and 3% work overseas
  • the average salary of FDA members is approximately £55,000 a year

    Breakdown of FDA members by grade:
  • Senior civil service - 13%
  • Grades 6 and 7 equivalents - 51%
  • Fast stream or equivalent - 7%
  • NHS chief executives or executive directors - 29%

    FDA members by job function:
  • NHS managers - 29%
  • Crown prosecutors/Procurator fiscals - 21%
  • Administrators/managers/policy advisers - 20%
  • Tax inspectors and Revenue and Customs officials - 15%
  • Diplomats and Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff - 4%
  • Schools inspectors - 3%
  • Statisticians - 2%
  • Economists - 2%
  • Managers and professionals in Culture, Media and Sport - 2%
  • Northern Ireland Senior Officers - 1%
  • Accountants - 1%

    • Latest press releases 

    • FDA: MI5 staff to be supported by public service union

      10/09/2008 - The Security Service (MI5) and the Security Service staff association have this week reached an agreement with the FDA - the union for senior managers in the civil service - for the union to provide professional industrial relations support to staff.

    • FDA rejects bonus criticisms

      22/07/2008 - The FDA - the union for senior managers and professionals in the civil service - today rejected criticisms by the Welsh Conservatives of bonuses paid to senior staff in the Welsh Assembly Government.

    • FDA welcomes reports into loss of child benefit disks from HMRC

      25/06/2008 - The FDA - the union representing senior managers and professionals in the civil service - has today welcomed the Poynter and IPCC reports into the circumstances surrounding the loss of the child benefit disks from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    • FDA welcomes appointment of new HM Revenue and Customs' chair

      24/06/2008 - The FDA - the union for senior managers and professionals in the civil service - today welcomed the appointment of Mike Clasper as the new chair of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).