§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health 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. [36200]
§ Ms BlearsThe Department, including its agencies, has 10 accredited full-time union representatives (100 per cent. of their duties) who may receive paid leave to undertake union activities.
In addition to facility time, a reasonable amount of paid time off for accredited representatives, to enable them to carry out trade union activities, may be given within a limit of 15 days per annum. An additional 10 days may be given to those elected or appointed to national union bodies such as group and national executive committees.
As all annual leave taken by staff is recorded and checked locally by business areas within the Department, there is no centrally held information available on the cost of paid leave taken by accredited representatives for trade union activities.
The Department does not hold any details of union duties undertaken by non-departmental public bodies staff.