Government attacks on facility time

Facility time is a political issue under the current government, with attacks on it forming part of a more general assault on unions, particularly in the civil service, but also in local government.

For example, delegates at the public and commercial services union PCS 2013 National Conference heard that union representatives within the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) were notified by management that paid facility time would be calculated on 0.04% of pay bill effective from 1 April 2013. This is even less than the “woefully inadequate” Cabinet Office guidance figure of 0.1% and equates to just five days facility time a week for all delegated collective bargaining and industrial relations and statutory duties, including health and safety and case work across the civil service unions PCS, Prospect and FDA.

In the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the biggest department, training for new reps and training for health and safety reps has been 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.