The FDA, the union that represents senior public servants, has expressed its "deep concern" over revelations that Home Office MP Gerry Sutcliffe asked his department for lists of officials who supported or opposed his offender management policy.

The FDA represents many senior public servants across the UK, including some in Scotland, from HMIE staff through to procurators fiscal.

FDA head of business development Paul Whiteman said that the union was worried about a minister demanding a list of officials according to whether they supported or opposed his policies. "This smacks of politicisation and risks undermining the core civil service values of independence and impartiality."

Whiteman said that the FDA welcomed the publication of the Public Administration Select Committee's report entitled Politics and Administration: Ministers and Civil Servants, and said that the union looked forward to considering its detail.

He echoed the Select Committee’s call for a Civil Service Act, saying that ministers' expectations should be accompanied by clarity about the civil service's constitutional position.

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