Last year the FDA provided evidence to the committee on the 60% office attendance mandate based on its own research, which the committee adopted in its recommendations.In an opinion piece for Civil Service World, FDA Assistant General Secretary Lauren Crowley said the government had “missed another opportunity to make hybrid working a success”, saying: “The committee’s report offered a chance for the government to reconsider whether a one-size-fits-all office attendance mandate is the right tool for a complex and geographically dispersed workforce of half a million people. Instead, the government has chosen to maintain the policy without setting out any clear evidence of its benefits.”
Crowley continued:“For the government, getting this right offers clear benefits: improved productivity, a meaningful and modern working model for civil servants, and a stronger position for the civil service in a competitive labour market.“But it continues to pursue a dogmatic approach of a top-down, one-size-fits-all quota for half a million civil servants across 200 employers.”
As the political temperature rises in the lead up to Northern Ireland’s May election, the FDA’s National Officer for Northern Ireland Robert Murtagh has once again called on MLAs to “keep civil servants out of the political crossfire.”
FDA General Secretary Dave Penman spoke as part of the Bright Blue Panel ‘can AI improve public services?’ at Conservative Party Conference 2026 on Monday 5 October.
While these changes begin to address challenges identified by our members in the CPS, the union continues its call for increased CPS funding, in order to help tackle these crimes long-term.
