Alun Cairns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alun Cairns on 2014-03-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department provided for staff to carry out trade union activities in each of the last three years; and how many days staff spent on those activities in those years.

Karen Bradley

[holding answer 20 March 2014]

The Department did not provide specific funding for staff to carry out trade union activities in 2011, 2012 or 2013.

Information on the amount of paid time spent on trade union activities by staff who are union representatives has only been centrally recorded since November 2012. Between November 2012 and September 2013 our central records show that 1,345 paid days were spent by union representatives on such activities. These central records are based on returns submitted by union representatives to account for the time they have spent on their union roles. Information on the amount of paid time spent on trade union activities prior to November 2012 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Since October 2013 the Department has not permitted members of staff elected as union representatives to be granted paid facility time for any trade union activities and in future will only grant paid facility time for such activities in exceptional circumstances and with approval from the Secretary of State. In line with our legal obligations members of staff elected as union representatives are able to request time away from their work to undertake trade union activities but any time off granted for this purpose will be unpaid.