Trade Unions
Attorney-General
Priti Patel (Witham, Conservative)
To ask the Attorney-General
(1) how many trade union representatives in the Law Officers' Departments had (a) part-time and (b) full-time paid facility time arrangements in 2011-12;
(2) how many days were utilised for paid facility time by each trade union representative in the Law Officers' Departments in 2011-12; and at what cost to the public purse;
(3) how many days were utilised for paid facility time by each trade union representative in the Law Officers' Departments for trade union (a) duties and (b) activities in 2011-12.
Edward Garnier (Solicitor General; Harborough, Conservative)
The numbers of trade union representatives on paid facility time arrangements in the Law Officers' Departments during 2011-12 are detailed in the following table:
| Department | Part-time | Full-time |
| Serious Fraud Office (SFO) | 7 | 0 |
| Attorney General's Office | 0 | 0 |
| Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) | 8 | 0 |
| HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) | 3 | 0 |
The SFO records indicate that 54 facility days were recorded by trade union representatives for 2011-12 at a cost of £8,100.
HMCPSI does not maintain any central records about days utilised by trade union representatives or the associated costs but estimate that each representative, would spend no more than five days on union related activities in each year.
In 2011-12 TSol allocated 292 days to the union representatives from the PCS union at a cost of £49,747 and 150 days to union representatives from the FDA union at a cost of £53,810. In both cases no central record is held of the number of days actually utilised. In addition, one hour's facility time was allowed for each member to attend the respective unions Annual General Meeting; no central record is held of the numbers who attended these meetings.
Data relating to staff numbers, facility time and costs for trade union representatives in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for the year 2011-12 are currently being collected and are expected to be available by the end of June. I will provide this information to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
No central record is kept by the Law Officers' Departments on the breakdown between trade union duties and activities, and such information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.