PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

£830 Million Facility Time Bill Raises Questions Over Who Should Pay

The Workers of England Union (WEU) is calling for greater scrutiny of publicly funded Trade Union facility time after its analysis of Government data indicated that approximately £830 million was reported in facility-time costs across the public sector between 2017/18 and 2024/25.

The figure is a WEU calculation based on Cabinet Office facility-time datasets and is being reconciled against the latest corrected Government files.

Facility time allows public-sector employees to take time away from their normal duties to undertake recognised Trade Union duties and activities while continuing to receive their salary from their public-sector employer.

The WEU accepts that properly controlled facility time can have benefits. Experienced representatives can help resolve disputes, support employees and address workplace problems.

However, the WEU believes the scale of public expenditure raises an important question about who should ultimately pay for Trade Union representation, particularly where Trade Unions also choose to make substantial financial contributions to political parties.

Parliamentary analysis of Electoral Commission data previously found that Trade Unions donated £64.8 million to the Labour Party between 2010 and 2015 alone.

The WEU is therefore asking:

Where a Trade Union chooses to provide substantial financial support to a political party, should taxpayers also meet part of the cost of that Trade Union's workplace representation in publicly funded organisations?

The WEU estimates that approximately £830 million over eight years is equivalent to the employment costs of around 2,250 Band 5 nurses each year for eight years*, or approximately 2,125 newly qualified teachers*, or around 2,250 firefighters* over the same period.

*(These are separate illustrative comparisons and not a combined total. Actual employment costs vary according to salary, pension contributions, employer National Insurance, allowances and other costs.)

Stephen Morris, General Secretary of the Workers of England Union, said:

“Workers absolutely deserve effective Trade Union representation. The question we are raising is not whether workers should be represented, but who should pay for that representation and how much public funding can reasonably be justified.

“Our analysis indicates that approximately £830 million has been reported in public-sector facility-time costs over eight years. That is a very substantial amount of public money and taxpayers are entitled to ask questions about how it is being used.

“This becomes particularly important when Trade Unions are also choosing to spend substantial sums supporting political parties. If Trade Unions have money available for political donations, it is reasonable to have a public debate about whether taxpayers should simultaneously be meeting part of the cost of their workplace representation.

“The Workers of England Union believes in strong, effective and genuinely independent Trade Union representation. We believe workers should have representatives whose first responsibility is to the member they are representing.”

The statutory public-sector facility-time publication requirements introduced in 2017 appear to be stopped in February 2026. The 2024/25 figures therefore form part of the final national reporting period under that system.

The WEU believes this makes proper examination of the available eight years of national data particularly important.

Stephen Morris
General Secretary
Workers of England

The Workers of England Union is available for interview regarding this issue. For further information, comment or clarification, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Notes to Journalists and Editors

The Workers of England Union is an independent, non-political Trade Union. We do not support or campaign for any political party. Our purpose is to represent working people and help our members understand the issues that may affect them at work and in their everyday lives. Where we examine government policy, public spending or political decisions, we do so to explain the facts and their potential impact on workers across England. We are not promoting one political party over another. Our focus will always be on informing, supporting and representing our members.

*The approximately £830 million figure is a Workers of England Union calculation using Cabinet Office public-sector facility-time datasets covering 2017/18 to 2024/25. It is not a single total published by the Cabinet Office and is being reconciled against corrected Government datasets.

The comparisons with nurses, teachers and firefighters are illustrative estimates based on approximate employment costs including salary, employer National Insurance and pension contributions. They should not be interpreted as precise workforce-cost calculations.