Speaking to the House of Lords Public Services Committee, FDA Assistant General Secretary Steven Littlewood described pay reform in the public sector as “absolutely necessary” and called on the government to fully embrace flexible working, which the FDA argued in written evidence to the committee would make public sector employers more attractive and diverse, improve productivity and help tackle inequalities.

Giving evidence as part of the committee’s inquiry, Designing a public services workforce fit for the future, Littlewood highlighted that this did not simply refer to hybrid working or working from home, but to giving proper consideration to issues like shift patterns and work life balance – issues which he highlighted have often been stigmatised or gendered.

Littlewood also highlighted the significant problems with “fragmented” training across the public sector, arguing that a more joined up approach across employers to develop transferable skills in the workforce would open up broader career paths in the sector. Drawing attention to the breadth and depth of the FDA Learn professional development offer available to members, he said that “one of the reasons the FDA provide so much training… is because the provision from the employer is not up to scratch”. He went on to point out that “joining up that training offer is crucial” as the existing fragmented system made training “inefficient and expensive”, and called for the established of a “centralised public body that would commission and oversee training across the public sector”.

On diversity and inclusion in the sector, Littlewood noted that the civil service had become more diverse, but clearly it had not yet gone far enough and that there was more work to do. He pointed that the FDA continued to hold civil service employers to account on this and had made real efforts to reach out to diversity networks across the service. The FDA had worked hard to ensure that training in the diversity space was meaningful, with Littlewood noting that in the past there had perhaps been a tendency towards online training that was little more than a “tick box exercise”.

Challenged on whether senior leaders needed to do more tackle issues with recruitment, Littlewood argued that, most crucially, it was a lack of political, rather than civil service, leadership that hampered efforts, calling for “a more supportive approach from ministers”.

You can read the FDA’s full written submission to the inquiry here.