Civil servants’ union calls for action on bullying

The senior civil servants’ union FDA has called for the introduction of an anti-bullying code in the House of Commons. Although a policy exists for staff, it wants standards set for the behaviour for MPs.

FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume said: “Too often politicians have little idea about what is acceptable in a modern workplace, and the behaviour of some ministers and special advisers does fall short of what is acceptable on occasions.”

He said that although every government department has unambiguous anti-bullying policies, in practice no civil servant was likely to make a formal complaint against a minister. Instead, he said, concerns about the behaviour of a minister are dealt with through informal channels. He called for a better mechanism to be put into place after the general election, with departmental bullying codes setting out standards.