The cost of paid trade union facility time – paid time off for staff to do union duties – at the Department for Education has more than doubled since Labour came to power. The department spent £61,652.81 on facility time in 2023/24. This rose to £95,608 in 2024/25, then to £126,814 in 2025/26. That is a 106% increase in two years…
The bill went up while fewer staff took part – headcount of facility time staff fell from 35 in 2023/24 to 32 in 2025/26. The cost per rep more than doubled, from around £1,760 to almost £3,960…
The figures came in answer to a written question from Shadow Cabinet Office minister Charlie Dewhirst. The department insisted no staff spent 100% of their time on union work…
Under Labour’s Employment Rights Act, public bodies no longer have to publish facility time data, a change which took effect from 18 February 2026. The unused legal power to cap facility time has also been removed. The figure is probably still rising…
Dewhirst told Guido: “Labour are utterly dependent on the union barons, and they will never bite the hand that feeds them. As long as they are in power, hard-pressed taxpayers will face higher and higher bills for lefty activism in the Civil Service.” You’re paying…
Asked by Lobby hacks about his past comments on Trump (“any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now”) Burnham was blithe:
“Politicians say things throughout their career, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in.”
Were it so easy…