MPs respond to further £101 million in trade union subsidies

Embargoed: 00:01 Sunday 26 June 2022

• TaxPayers’ Alliance reveals facility time subsidies to the trade unions could total £199 million across the public sector.
  
  
• Much of this goes unreported, with many bodies not complying and others such as Network Rail being exempt.
  
  
• Conservative MPs are writing to Cabinet Office ministers calling for facility time to be capped.

With Cabinet Office ministers admitting ongoing taxpayer support for trade unions is “difficult to understand”, the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has revealed unions may be receiving unreported subsidies of around £101 million. This comes on top of the £98 million already revealed by the TPA, meaning potential subsidies of around £199 million across the public sector.  

The subsidies come in the form of facility time, paid time-off taken by trade union officials to carry out union duties. According to recent parliamentary questions, thousands of public bodies are not complying with requirements to report it. 

The education sector had the lowest facility time compliance rate, with less than one in five institutions reporting, meaning up to £68.3 million in unreported subsidies. The NHS and police both saw their compliance rates rise between 2019-20 and 2020-21, but at least one third of NHS bodies are not reporting, suggesting £14.8 million in unreported subsidies. The civil service is the only part of the public sector which complies in full. Examples of bodies failing to comply include Avon and Somerset police, Liverpool city council and Great Ormond Street hospital. 

Separately, there are also other public bodies which can exploit loopholes in the current rules to avoid reporting union subsidies. This includes Network Rail, HM Passport Office and HS2 Limited. This means that they do not have to reveal the number of trade union officials working in them, how long they spend on union duties or the cost of their facility time, and estimates cannot be made of the subsidies they are providing to the trade unions. 

In response, Conservative members of parliament led by Richard Fuller MP are writing to Cabinet Office ministers requesting that facility time rules be tightened, by capping the time spent on union duties and limiting the cost of facility time to no more than the current Whitehall average. 

Key findings:

• The total value of unreported trade union facility time is estimated to be around £101,033,035. This means total facility time in the public sector could be £199,159,406 in 2020-21.
  
  
• The total cost of trade union facility time for the 494 education institutions who reported was £14,986,117 in 2020-21. With only 18 per cent of institutions supplying data, the value of unreported trade union facility time could be a further £68,270,089.
  
  
• The total cost of trade union facility time for the 233 local authorities who reported was £29,248,453 in 2020-21. With a 64 per cent response rate, the value of unreported trade union facility time could be a further £16,452,255.
  
  
• The total cost of trade union facility time for the 253 NHS institutions who reported was £28,754,319 in 2020-21. With 66 per cent of institutions providing data, the value of unreported trade union facility time could be a further £14,812,831.
  
  
• The total cost of trade union facility time for the 37 police institutions who reported was £5,014,576 in 2020-21. With 77 per cent of institutions supplying data, the value of unreported trade union facility time could be a further £1,497,860.
  
  
• Public bodies that are required to publish facility time data but did not include Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, the Greater Manchester combined authority, Liverpool city council and Havering council.
  
  
• Public bodies that are exempt from publishing facility time data include Network Rail, Channel 4, HM Passport Office, Homes England and High Speed Two (HS2) Limited.

Duncan Simpson, research director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:

“Militant trade unions could be banking twice as much support from the taxpayer as official records suggest.

“These indirect subsidies prop up union power over the public sector, with taxpayers’ supporting shop stewards to plan strikes.

“Unless ministers want to underwrite endless industrial action, they should heed calls from MPs to cap facility time.”

TPA spokespeople are available for live and pre-recorded broadcast interviews via 07795 084 113 (no texts)

Media contact:

Elliot Keck
Investigations Campaign Manager, TaxPayers' Alliance
[email protected]
24-hour media hotline: 07795 084 113 (no texts)

Notes to editors:

1. Founded in 2004 by Matthew Elliott and Andrew Allum, the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) campaigns to reform taxes and public services, cut waste and speak up for British taxpayers. Find out more at www.taxpayersalliance.com.
   
   
2. TaxPayers' Alliance's advisory council.
   
   
3. Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and Heather Wheeler MP endorsed a recent TaxPayers’ Alliance report revealing that 24,000 public sector workers were moonlighting as trade union reps. Cabinet Office data on facility time can be found here, with information on compliance rates here. The list of bodies required to report facility time can be found here.
   
   
4. The TaxPayers’ Alliance first uncovered the cost of facility time and the existence of trade union ‘pilgrims’ in groundbreaking research in 2010.
   
   
5. The TaxPayers’ Alliance has launched a petition to ‘Stop Subsidising the Strikes’.