§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are allocated; and what has been the cost to public funds in each of the last four years. [36202]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe number of staff who received paid leave to undertake union duties (excluding health and safety activity) in my Department and its agencies1 in each of the last four years are set out as follows, the majority of whom are part-time representatives:
795W
Number 1998 277 1999 267 2000 263 2001 270 The total number of days allocated to the staff above in each of the last four years are as follows:
Number 1998 7,138 1999 7,064 2000 7,043 2001 7,090 The costs of time spent on industrial relations and/or trade union activities, based on average salary costs, in each of the last four years are as follows:
£ 1998 625,000 1999 655,893 2000 605,380 2001 684,166 1 The figures given do not include the Fire Services College who only became an executive agency within DTLR as a result of the Machinery of Government Changes in June 2001.