FDA raises issue of public service cuts during Cabinet trip to Cardiff

The FDA was represented at a meeting of Welsh union, business and third sector groups in Cardiff on 23 July, which was attended by Cabinet members and addressed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The meeting was arranged as part of the first visit by a British Cabinet to Wales, following other out-of-London visits to Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Southampton and Glasgow over the past year.

The union's national officer who represents members in Wales, Paul Neilson, raised the issue of probable public sector cuts in Wales with business, innovation and skills minister Pat McFadden. Neilson said: "The issue of potential cuts to budgets and jobs within the Welsh public sector is particularly worrying. Proportionally, more people work in the Welsh public sector than in the rest of the UK and the effects of any cuts will therefore be particularly damaging."