FDA WARNS HOME OFFICE BREAKUP COULD COMPROMISE PUBLIC PROTECTION

Commenting on John Reid&s;s proposal to break the Home Office into two departments, the leader of the union for senior public servants, FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume, said: "The Government will need to be confident that the long-term advantages of breaking up the department will outweigh the many months of disruption such a restructure would entail. Getting this wrong could seriously compromise the over-riding objective of public protection. Ministers must remember that reorganising a department takes considerable time and resources, and needs careful planning, if it is to be successful. The Government&s;s track record is not exemplary in this respect, despite the best efforts of the civil servants involved. "Restructuring will mean that some people will have to stop working on the core functions of the Home Office at a time when the department is already stretched to breaking point. It is now imperative, as we have already explained, that the Government reflects on the resources it is currently allocating to the Home Office to ensure they match the scale of the challenges it faces."