Government attacks on facility time

Facility time is a political issue. Under the coalition government, attacks on facility time, particularly in the civil service but also in local government, formed part of a more general assault on unions.

In the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the biggest department, training for new reps and training for health and safety reps was taken out of the “pot” as a result of negotiations. Unions are trying to replicate this in other areas and negotiations are ongoing on a department by department basis. Both the public and commercial services PCS and the specialists’ Prospect union report reductions in facility time for their health and safety reps. PCS also reports that employers are undermining safety reps rights, refusing them release to attend Stage 2 safety rep training courses for example.

A motion to Prospect’s 2015 annual conference set out that attacks on facility time are becoming more common right across the union. The union says that there is “a lack of understanding amongst some employers of the legal rights of health and safety representatives to time off to carry out their functions” and “a practice that has started in the civil service sector of including time for health and safety functions within a limited cap on trades union facilities” which is undermining the role of health and safety representatives.

And PCS reports that it expects things to get worse under the Conservative government, with more facility time taken away from reps.