Ministers not civil service capability responsible for the Government's problems - 15 May 2008

The real problem facing the civil service is not the capabilities of our members, it is the actions of the Government, FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume will tell delegates at the union's annual conference on Thursday morning in central London. The FDA is the union for senior managers and professionals in the civil service.

In a wide-ranging speech covering the Constitutional Renewal Bill, pay, and the FDA's work on professional skills and equality, he will say that the professional obligation that rests upon civil servants needs to be balanced by an equal obligation on ministers, which has not been considered by the Capability Reviews.

"The civil service can only be effective if the Government displays a sense of purpose and direction. "If Government is to be effective, then ministers need to devote the resources, seek objective analysis, and be willing to test - through consultation - the potential impact of their decisions. And cutting departmental budgets by 5% each year will do little to boost the capacity for rigorous analysis.

"That is particularly the case with tax. The cabinet secretary has made clear that the Treasury advised ministers on the consequences of their decisions on the 10p tax band, and will have done so on the other controversial tax changes over the past year.

"To be blunt, if ministers are facing difficulties, they have only themselves to blame."

Challenging the Government's constraints on public sector pay, Baume will also tell delegates: "The Government has mismanaged the public finances and is running out of cash. And it is easy for MPs who have their mortgages and weekly food bills paid by the taxpayer on Parliamentary expenses to argue that others should tighten their belts. The failure to date to tackle what the public regard as widespread abuses - even by ministers - of expenses from the public purse is corroding respect for good government in the round. Frankly, it is a system of licensed greed."

He will call for the political parties to "reach an understanding about the funding of political parties and to take action to minimise the potential for electoral fraud. This is about standards in public life and respect for our democratic principles."

He will also urge the Government to "develop governance arrangements that reflect the changes and pressures of devolution".

Notes for editors
1. A full copy of the speech is available from Oliver Rowe (communications officer), tel: 020 7401 5588 or 07751 366680 or at oliver@fda.org.uk.
2. The FDA is the trade union and professional body representing 18,000 of the UK’s senior civil and public servants. Our members include policy advisors, senior managers, tax inspectors, economists, statisticians, accountants, special advisers, government lawyers, diplomats, crown prosecutors and NHS managers.
3. Members in HMRC are represented by the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC), a section of the FDA.
4. 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".
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