Trade Unions
Attorney-General
Priti Patel (Witham, Conservative)
To ask the Attorney-General how many meetings have taken place between the Law Officers' Departments and trade union representatives utilising paid facility time in each of the last five years to discuss (a) collective bargaining, (b) redundancies, (c) negotiations relating to employment, pay and conditions and (d) other trade union and industrial relations duties; and what the dates and times were of each meeting.
Edward Garnier (Solicitor General; Harborough, Conservative)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds a number of meetings each year with trade union representatives to discuss a wide variety of issues. These meetings take place at departmental and local level, and as such the CPS does not retain a central record of all meetings held.
The Serious Fraud Office does not record the exact number of meetings between officials and union representatives held during this period or the topics discussed, but can confirm that SFO officials have been meeting with trade union representatives on a monthly basis since 2009.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has a Whitley Council which meets quarterly and is attended by union representatives. Other HMCPSI negotiations with unions are normally undertaken by the Treasury Solicitors Department (TSol) with input from HMCPSI.
TSol has a partnership agreement with the FDA and Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), formally signed in 2003 and reviewed in 2007. This agreement is facilitated by formal partnership meetings between the unions and senior business managers when issues, including the partnership agreement, are discussed and resolved. These meetings cover collective bargaining, redundancies and other trade union and industrial relations duties. In addition, since 2009, TSol has held an informal partnership meeting each month to discuss items for the agenda for the formal meeting and to decide if a formal meeting is required. Separate meetings are held to negotiate pay and conditions.
The dates and times of meetings held are as follows:
| Formal partnership meetings | Informal partnership meetings | Pay meetings | |
| 2007 | 11 January: 11:00 | 24 May: 10:00 | |
| 13 February: 11:00 | 7 June: 10:00 |
| 13 March: 11:00 | 12 June: 14:00 | ||
| 16 April: 11:00 | 28 June: 14:00 | ||
| 21 May: 11:00 | 19 July: 14:00 | ||
| 14 June: 11:00 | 24 July: 14:00 | ||
| 23 July: 11:00 | 22 October: 11:00 | ||
| 9 August: 11:00 | 12 November: 15:00 | ||
| 6 September: 11:00 | 10 December: 10:00 | ||
| 11 October: 13:00 | |||
| 112 November: 11:00 | |||
| 20 December: 9:00 | |||
| 2008 | 13 March: 11:00 | 8 January: 14:00 | |
| 1 May: 11:00 | 21 January: 10:30 | ||
| 12 June: 13:00 | 15 February: 11:00 | ||
| 3 July: 11:00 | 18 March: 14:00 | ||
| 7 August: 11:00 | 27 June: 11:00 | ||
| 9 October: 11:00 | 10 July: 14:00 | ||
| 11 November: 10:30 | 16 July: 10:00 | ||
| 25 July: 10:00 | |||
| 29 July: 10:00 | |||
| 5 August: 10:00 | |||
| 21 August: 9:30 | |||
| 2009 | 12 February: 11:00 | 2 April: 13:30 | 22 April: 14:00 |
| 12 March: 11:00 | 1 May: 10:30 | 8 May: 10:30 | |
| 16 April: 11:00 | 2 June: 11:00 | 17 June: 11:00 | |
| 15 May: 15:00 | 3 July: 11:00 | 29 June: 11:00 | |
| 11 June: 13:30 | 3 August: 11:00 | 14 August: 10:00 | |
| 17 July: 10:30 | 3 September: 11:00 | 9 September: 14:00 | |
| 17 September: 11:00 | 30 October: 11:00 | ||
| 15 October: 11:00 | 27 November: 11:00 | ||
| 13 November: 11:00 | |||
| 11 December: 11:00 | |||
| 2010 | 20 January: 10:30 | 13 January: 11:00 | 1 March: 14.00 |
| 19 February: 14:15 | 4 March: 13:00 | 26 April: 11:00 | |
| 18 March: 15:00 | 13 April: 10:30 | 4 May: 11:00 | |
| 19 April: 15:00 | 14 May: 15:00 | 13 May: 15:00 | |
| 8 June:10:00 | 16 August: 15:00 | 25 May: 14:00 | |
| 21 July: 14:00 | 20 September: 15:00 | 30 June: 11:30 | |
| 29 September: 12:00 | 18 October: 16:00 | 22 July: 11:00 | |
| 27 October: 14:00 | 15 November: 15:00 | ||
| 24 November: 14:00 | 14 December: 10:30 | ||
| 2011 | 19 January: 14:00 | 6 January: 15:00 | 6 May: 10:00 |
| 16 February: 14:00 | 2 February: 14:00 | 24 June: 10:00 | |
| 16 March: 14:00 | 2 March: 14:00 | ||
| 19 April: 14:00 | 6 April: 14:00 | ||
| 17 May: 14:00 | 4 May: 14:00 | ||
| 15 June:14:00 | 7 June:15:30 | ||
| 18 October: 14:00 | 6 July: 14:00 | ||
| 3 August: 14:00 | |||
| 7 September: 14:00 | |||
| 5 October: 14:00 |
| 2 November: 14:00 | |||
| 5 December: 12:00 |
In addition other meetings are held ad hoc as required to cover particular issues which arise (e.g. flexible working, TSol strategy etc). No central record is held of the dates and times of these meetings.