ONS London office cuts are ill-thought through, says FDA

The FDA - the union for senior managers and professionals in public service - has reacted with disappointment to todays announcement of radical cuts to the London office of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). London staff numbers have been cut from around 1050 to less than 600 over the past two years. Todays announcement will reduce this number still further - to 340 by next April (2008), to a rump of between 50 and 100 by 2010, and possibly even further. FDA national officer Ro Marsh said: "The unions and staff at the ONS were shocked by this announcement, which they believe to have been ill-thought through and inappropriate. "The ONS is currently going through a major reorganisation, with the expected creation of an independent statistical office in April 2008. The FDA, which represents members of the Government Statistical Service and senior managers employed by ONS, is concerned that the latest reduction in staff numbers in London will cause severe risks to statistical outputs that the new governing board will inherit from the ONS. "We are surprised that such a fundamental change should be made to the operations of the ONS at a time when Parliament is considering its future. "The FDA is pressing the ONS to maintain a viable presence in London." The FDA is concerned about the impact of the announcement on the production of national accounts, where modernisation of systems is already creating pressures on delivery. The union is concerned that decisions on staffing levels are being made without proper consultation with the recognised trade unions and despite an agreement not to force staff to move offices, and before the development of an agreement on how to deal with potential redundancies. Marsh said: "There is little doubt that this announcement will have an adverse impact on the ethnic breakdown of staff at the ONS. We believe that ONS could be in breach of its statutory duty to assess and consult on the likely impact of proposed policies on the promotion of race equality and its own Race Equality Scheme. "Furthermore, communication with stakeholders in the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Department of Trade and Industry will be weakened through the loss of expertise in London, at a time when many people believe this needs strengthening." ### Notes for Editors 1. The FDA is the trade union and professional body representing 17,000 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. 2. The FDA (formerly First Division Association) should be referred to simply as "The FDA" and can be described as "the senior public servants union". 3. For further information contact: • Jessica Stark, FDA head of communications, tel. 020 7343 1120 or 07967 484 441.