Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many (a) total and (b) full-time equivalent trade union representatives in his Department receive trade union facility time; how many trade union representatives spend over 50% of their working hours on facility time; what the cost of facility time was to his Department in the latest period for which data is available; what proportion of his Department's paybill was spent on facility time (i) since July 2024 and (ii) in the equivalent period in the 2023-24 financial year; and whether he has had discussions with trade unions on these arrangements.

The Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) provides annual data to Cabinet Office on facilities time for its employees who are Trade Union representatives. The report for 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 has not yet been published.

Within the last reporting return period, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 DBT had 16 FTEs employees who were Trade Union Representatives. Of these, zero claimed over 50% facility time. The cost of facility time was 0.01% of DBT’s pay bill.

Specific Information from July 2024 is not available as this is reported on annually.