FDA (trade union)

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Wikipedia

FDA
Founded1919; 106 years ago (1919)
HeadquartersBorough High Street, London, England
Location
MembersIncrease 24,422 (2024)[1]
General Secretary
Dave Penman
AffiliationsTUC, STUC, ICTU, Wales TUC, PSI
Websitefda.org.uk

The FDA is the only trade union that operates in the administrations of all four nations of the United Kingdom and focuses exclusively on issues of managers and professionals in the civil service.[2] The membership ranges from Higher Executive Officers to Permanent Secretaries.[3]

Since its formation in 1919, the union has grown to more than 24,000 members.[4]

Members, structure and affiliations

Members

Members of the FDA work across 200 government departments, agencies and arms-length-bodies in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and overseas.[5]

Employers represented by the FDA include: HMRC, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Crown Prosecution Service, Department for Work and Pensions, Scottish Government, Government Legal Department, Welsh Government, culture including libraries, museums and more.[2]

Its members include policy advisers, middle and senior managers, tax inspectors, economists, lawyers, prosecutors, school inspectors, diplomats, accountants, fast streamers and senior civil servants.[2]

In 2002, MI6 partnered with the FDA to provide workplace support, guidance and legal advice to staff whilst maintaining their anonymity. While MI6 staff did not become full union members, the arrangement provided them with support in addressing workplace grievances and accessing legal advice, including cases taken to employment tribunals.[6]

In 2015, the union expanded its membership base by opening up membership to HEOs, SEOs and their equivalent grades for the first time.[2]

Membership structure and affiliations

Its federal structure means that some sections of the union operate under separate branding. Three parts of the union have distinctive institutional features. Senior staff at HM Revenue and Customs join the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC) which is also a certified trade union as well as a section of FDA. Managers in the NHS join Managers in Partnership (MiP), a joint venture with Unison of which MiP members are also members.[7] Members in middle management (Higher Executive Officer and Senior Executive Officers) join Keystone.[8]

The FDA is an affiliate of the Trades Union Congress, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the Wales TUC and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions but is not affiliated to the Labour Party or any other political party.[9] The FDA is also affiliated to Public Services International.[10]

Member support

The FDA provides workplace advice, representation and legal advice to managers and professionals in the civil service.[2] The union provides support with workplace issues around pay, pensions, redundancy, discrimination, bullying, disciplinary charges, dismissal and more.[3] Each civil service department has an allocated FDA rep who is the first point of contact for any member.[11]

The FDA holds collective bargaining agreements with over 100 employers which allows them to negotiate on behalf of members pay, pensions, redundancy, quality and other issues.[12]

Leadership

The Executive Committee

  • Margaret Haig, President elected 2024
  • Leila Kelly, Vice President elected 2022
  • Beatriz Brown, Vice President elected 2022
  • John McCullagh, Treasurer elected 2023

The FDA team

  • Dave Penman, General Secretary elected 2012, 2016 & 2021
  • Lauren Crowley, Assistant General Secretary from 2024
  • Alice Hood, Assistant General Secretary from 2025
  • Lynne Gravatt, Assistant General Secretary (Head of Resources) from 2018
  • Adrian Prandle, Assistant General Secretary from 2025
  • Lucille Thirlby, Assistant General Secretary from 2018

General Secretary

Dave Penman, formerly Deputy General Secretary, was elected unopposed as General Secretary in May 2012 [13] and took up office from July 2012.

His immediate predecessors were Jonathan Baume (1997-2012) (who had previously been Assistant General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary), Elizabeth Symons[14] (1989–96) and John Ward (1980–88). The first full-time General Secretary was Norman Ellis, appointed in 1974.[15]

In 1996, the then Labour Party leader Tony Blair was criticised after he nominated the outgoing FDA General Secretary Liz Symons for a peerage.[14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "FDA AR21 Form for the year ending 31 December 2024" (PDF). GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "FDA | TUC". www.tuc.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  3. 1 2 "About us | The FDA Trade Union". FDA. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  4. ↑ FDA Return of Members.pdf
  5. ↑ "About us | The FDA Trade Union". FDA. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  6. ↑ Norton-Taylor, Richard (2002-04-17). "Spies turn to union for protection". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  7. ↑ "MIP: About Mip". www.miphealth.org.uk. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  8. ↑ "Keystone Union - the FDA section dedicated to HEOs and SEOs". www.fda.org.uk.
  9. ↑ "FDA - Membership". www.fda.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  10. ↑ "PSI DIRECTORY OF AFFILIATED UNIONS" (PDF). Public Services International. March 2009. p. 125. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  11. ↑ "Civil service union representation | The FDA Trade Union". FDA. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  12. ↑ "Civil Service collective bargaining | The FDA Union". FDA. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  13. ↑ "David Penman elected unopposed as FDA General Secretary". www.fda.org.uk. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  14. 1 2 Toynbee, Polly (25 August 1996). "First division Lady; profile; Liz Symons". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  15. ↑ "FDA - FDA History". www.fda.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2009-04-11.