HEFTY BILL
Taxpayers forked out nearly £100m in a year to pay public sector staff to do union duties
Angela Rayner’s New Deal for Working People is set to undo Tory efforts to limit spending on trade union time
TAXPAYERS forked out nearly £100million in one year to pay public sector staff to do union duties, analysis shows.
More than 23,500 workers were also union reps in 2022-23, the Taxpayers’ Alliance said.
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Some £526million has been spent on facility time — paid time off to do union duties — since 2017-18.
Transport for London spent £8million on pay for facility time last year.
The Department for Work and Pensions had the largest number of trade union reps at 1,023 — costing £654,413.
NHS Lothian had the most staff working 100 per cent of their hours on facility time — with 48 costing almost £1.9million.
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The Tories vowed to limit spending on trade union time.
But it is set to bloat under Angela Rayner’s New Deal for Working People.
John O’Connell, at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The government should recognise the savings by cutting the excesses.”
NHS Lothian said: “Union reps who spend 100 per cent of working hours on facility time represents just 0.12 per cent of our pay bill.”
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TfL added: “In many cases we’re legally required to allow reps paid time off.”
The Government said: “We are moving away from the hostility in industrial relations.”
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