Union chief Mark Serwotka is to launch a campaign to bring outsourced areas of the civil service back into the public sector.

The head of the PCS union, representing ground level civil servants, has pledged to use industrial action if necessary - saying that "strikes are an essential part of a union's armoury".

Forum Response: FDA

Jonathan Baume, general secretary of the FDA, told ePolitix.com: ""While the process of partnership has its shortcomings, there is no doubt that partnership in the civil service has delivered over the past few years - although it relies on both sides making it work.

"The civil service has a clear responsibility to the elected government of the day. The role of the FDA is to minimise the disadvantages of change to its members while also maximising the benefits for members.

"Members come first for all unions. The role of a union is to find the best ways to deliver for its members."