Trade Union Facility Time Costs Taxpayers Nearly £100 Million, Report Finds

The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) has released an analysis of trade union facility time in the public sector. The report found that workers in taxpayer-funded jobs spent nearly £100 million on trade union activities in the last financial year.

The TPA is concerned that the Labour Party is ending mandatory reporting on staff taking time off for trade union work. The Employment Rights Bill will also remove ministers' power to impose a cap on these activities.

The TPA says the number of public sector organisations reporting trade union facility time has already nearly halved. It found 21,639 employees acted as union representatives. Nearly 1,000 (993) spent all their working hours on facility time – and 438 spent more than half their time on trade union activities.

The TPA says facility time cost the NHS £17.1 million in 2023-24. Among local authorities, the cost across 231 councils came to £33.3 million. It claims Bradford city council had 42 employees spending all their hours on facility time – up from 11 in 2022-23.

These activities cost the Ministry of Justice nearly £3.1 million in 2023-24 – up from £2.6 million the previous year. Police organisations spent £5.1 million on facility time. The cost for education bodies came to £18.9 million.

“British taxpayers deserve cost-effective services at a time when public sector productivity is already falling like a stone. If Labour’s trade union inspired Employment Rights Bill has its way, taxpayers will have no idea how much of their cash will be siphoned off into paying for trade union militants. “This Bill is a 1970s-style Orwellian outrage that elevates trade union bosses into a VIP lane whilst everyone else suffers.”

“The shocking drop in the number of organisations reporting facility time data is a worrying harbinger of what’s to come. “For years we at the TPA fought for greater transparency, achieving significant successes... “Yet just months after coming into office Labour ministers are shutting down the spotlight on this major area of government spending. Ministers should prioritise the interests of taxpayers over those of their union paymasters and scrap this absurd proposal, along with the rest of the Employment Rights Bill.”

“A public sector focused on delivering for the public is our priority and that’s why as part of our plan for change we’re scrapping unnecessary paperwork to save the taxpayer almost half a million pounds a year and help positive industrial relations, boosting productivity.”

The Government insists facility time does not impose significant costs to employers or the taxpayer. It argues that removing regulations will reduce the annual administrative burden on many public sector employers. They are expected to make a £400,000 saving by not having to provide information on facility time.