Starmer knows the civil service delivers objectives set by gov - Whitehall's been given little strategy and few resources for change. Yes, push Whitehall to deliver, but don't blame it for gov failings. Our members are as desperate for reform as the public is.

As I told Ayesha Hazarika, any organisation as large as the civil service will face challenges - no one's suggesting it shouldn't reform, but this isn't the way to do it. No leader in the private sector would talk to their staff the way the PM has and expect to boost productivity

"Most public services are delivered by people, not machines. And therefore, if you want less people, then you expect less public services. That can be a political choice." Dave Penman responds to suggestions of a UK version of Elon Musk's 'Department of Government Efficiency'

Very much looking forward to this - they are such inspiring events!

Former FDA President & current Executive Committee member Fiona Eadie chairs Women into Leadership in Liverpool today. Learn more about the FDA & Dods Events Diversity & Inclusion event, enabling women to progress in their careers & hear from senior women leaders, at womenintoleadership.org.uk

As I told Kate McCann civil servants just want clear objectives and an understanding of what ministers want and then to be held accountable for what they deliver. What’s disappointing is the rhetoric and briefing around this announcement.

Chairing my first #WiL25 conference that takes place in a football stadium! ⚽️ Ready for another day of exploration, challenge, and inspiration, here in Cardiff. Women into Leadership

Sometimes ministers think they need to look like they’re being tough on the civil service, rather than thinking about how to actually get on and govern, motivate, and lead the civil service to deliver for the country. All the evidence shows that morale is low, they’ve got a

"The reality and the spin are quite different, to be honest" Dave Penman tells LBC News the proposals on Senior Civil Service performance management are "relatively unremarkable" but the spin from Ministers of "save money or you'll get sacked" is disappointing

"Without sustained further investment, we risk undermining public confidence in Scotland’s justice system and placing intolerable strain on an already overstretched workforce." - Allan Sampson scotsman.com/news/crime/jus…

I just love how commentators like Kelvin MacKenzie seem the think that the civil service is able to just decide for itself what size it is. Ministers decide. They can have bigger or smaller, but as Musk and Trump are about to find out, take a chainsaw to it and you’ll need to own

A great start to today’s Women into Leadership conference at a sunny Edgbaston. Looking forward to hearing from all our #WiL25 speakers and contributors FDA union Women into Leadership

“Ministers need to be honest about the consequences of the cuts, both with civil servants and the public”, Dave Penman tells Sky News. “The figures they’re talking about… will impact on the civil service’s ability to deliver, both for ministers and the public.”

To some the civil service somehow gets to decide its own size, as if ministers are passengers and Permanent Secretaries are handed a blank cheque. The Maude era slashed Prison Officer numbers, a decision we’ve still not recovered from. Turns out choices have consequences.

Successive governments keep saying they want to cut the size of the civil service, but keep asking it to do extra things and giving it extra money to do extra things. As I said to Matt Chorley, ministers must be prepared to make tough choices to make the rhetoric and reality

“The reality is if you're going to cut the size of the Civil Service, you've got to make some hard choices about what you do and what you don't do.” Responding to the Spring Statement, Dave Penman tells Matt Chorley “the spending review is where the detail will come”.

FDA delegates joined Roz Foyer in celebrating the great work of union reps across Scotland, whose achievements were recognised at #STUC25

Pleased to be chairing this event for FDA union - always a great day!

ADC 2025 kicks off with our first speaker of the day, with Lewis Goodall reflecting on the first year of the new government, the opportunities that have come with it and the challenges that lie ahead.

As I told George Parker, successive governments may have spent a great deal of energy talking about cuts, yet in reality they piled promises on top of promises. The number of civil servants had to grow to try and match those political commitments, on.ft.com/3SlQ5pc