As reported in The Guardian, The Observer and Civil Service World, FDA General Secretary Dave Penman outlined the issues posed by political appointments to the civil service, saying:
“An ideological purge does not make for good government.
“You would lose experience and institutional memory, but you would also send a message to the rest of the civil service that they are not trusted.
“Every civil servant knows they have to serve the government of the day. It’s absolutely clear – you serve or you go. There is no real evidence that the civil service would get in the way.
“How do you expect to bring in the brightest and the best if you then throw them under a bus? This would attract believers, but not necessarily the best people. And it shouldn’t be about what people believe. It’s about what they can do.”
Penman continued:
“Another problem is that as soon as you have political picks, when you change the minister they will want their own pick as well. In the last 10 years we have had whole football teams of Secretaries of State. If you changed the Permanent Secretary every time, it would be a massive churn, and very disruptive.”
This week, the FDA attended the 2026 TUC Congress in Brighton. FDA delegates spoke to and moved motions on a range of topics, including the review of the civil service, supporting effective management, accountability and safe contracting in the NHS, and the importance of an evidence-led approach to regulation.
Yesterday, FDA staff and reps attended the 2026 Fast Stream annual Base Camp, welcoming this year’s new joiners to the scheme and sharing the benefits of FDA membership with them.
The FDA’s National Officer for Northern Ireland Robert Murtagh has written to Speaker of the Assembly, Edwin Poots, asking him to remind MLAs that when officials appear before the Assembly, impartiality must not be brought into question.
