FDA achieves major breakthrough on Fast Stream pay

August 30, 2023

chrisdorney via Shutterstock

The FDA has secured a substantial pay offer for civil service Fast Streamers following a successful ballot for industrial action earlier this year. The Cabinet Office entered into negotiations with the FDA after members voted overwhelmingly for strike action over historic pay issues. The new deal has now been clearly accepted in a vote of FDA Fast Stream members.

The new pay offer will see some Fast Streamers receive a salary increase of as much as 22.5%, with highlights of the offer including:

Pay increases of between 5.6% and 12.4% in 2023/24 and 8.1% and 22.5% in 2024/25
A London living allowance worth 4% in 2023/24 and 8% in 2024/25

As reported by Civil Service World, FDA National Officer for the Fast Stream Lauren Crowley said:

“By voting for strike action earlier this year, FDA Fast Stream members made the argument for pay reform loud and clear, and it was only this decisive action that brought the Cabinet Office back to the negotiating table.

“The overwhelmingly mandate for action demonstrated the anger Fast Streamers felt about years of empty promises of reform. However, the FDA is pleased that the employer has listened, and this is a substantial offer that will make a real difference to Fast Streamers, who are among our most talented and dedicated public servants.

“The work on Fast Stream pay is not finished, but this deal will lead to significant salary increases and represents a victory for all our members who took the difficult decision to vote for industrial action.

Welcoming the offer, FDA General Secretary Dave Penman said that a “transformative” pay deal had been required after “years of pay stagnation and record attrition”, and paid tribute to the dedication of the FDA’s Fast Stream Committee in delivering the overwhelming ballot result earlier in the year.

As a result of the deal, Penman said, “current Fast Streamers will see significant pay hikes over the next two years. We hope that attrition rates fall and investment in these incredibly talented, inspiring public servants will deliver better services in the future.”

However, he argued that “it shouldn’t be this hard to reform pay”:

“All the evidence was there that it was desperately needed. It shouldn’t have taken a strike ballot to jolt government into action. Ministers, the Treasury and the civil service leadership need to work harder to be enablers of reform, not blockers.”

In a ballot of FDA Fast Stream members, over 94% of members voted to accept the offer on a turnout of 68%.