To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his 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.

The Department and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) operate a joint trade union facility time agreement. Details of the funding that the Department has allocated centrally for trade union activity for the last three years can be found in the following table.

Information on the number of days accredited trade union representatives carry out trade union activities is not collected centrally. The Department and the MHRA currently share trade union facility time of a small number of staff elected by trade unions whose work time is fully allocated to trade union activities.