Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling in the 2017 case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts & Ors for the calculation of holiday pay entitlement for staff in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Government Legal Department [GLD] is considering available options in relation to calculating holiday pay with respect to overtime. The GLD aims to complete this work in the current financial year.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, if they will take steps to (a) publish an equality impact assessment and (b) consult with trade unions when proposing new HR policies for their Department; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has a shared HR service with the Government Legal Department (GLD). Negotiations with recognised trade unions relating to pay and changes to HR policies are conducted by GLD, with the AGO adopting the final agreement. Equality Impact Assessments are discussed with the trade unions where appropriate, however the Civil Service Management Code (CSMC) does not place an obligation on departments to share this information with their representative trade unions, nor is there a legal requirement to publish such assessments. |
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has a shared HR service with the Government Legal Department (GLD). GLD meets regularly with their recognised Trade Unions and presents and shares a range of information and data where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements. This helps inform decision making through formal negotiation and meaningful consultation and engagement. GLD are therefore complying with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, and always seek to work constructively with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements. There is a range of HR information which is published on GOV.UK and therefore publicly available. |
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps they are taking to ensure that their Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether the monitoring data gathered for that purpose is shared with relevant trade unions.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has a shared HR service with the Government Legal Department (GLD). All AGO staff are asked to self-declare their personal sensitive information on the HR Information system, as per section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code. Negotiations with the trade unions in respect of changes to HR practices or policies would normally be conducted by GLD with AGO adopting the final agreement. A link to the Civil Service statistics can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics |
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of employees in their Department are paid at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Attorney General’s Office has a shared HR service with the Government Legal Department (GLD) and do not report separately on this matter. This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the Government increased the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour. This will rise to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%. Further information can be found on National Living Wage and National Minimum wage here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-national-minimum-wage-in-2022 |
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Attorney General’s Office has a shared HR service with the Government Legal Department (GLD). The GLD have a joint agreement with the PCS and FDA unions. The GLD enjoys a productive and open relationship with the unions, and fully accepts that the law places a duty on an employer to disclose information for collective bargaining purposes. This may include information without which the Trade Union representative would be materially impeded from carrying out collective bargaining and information which it would be in accordance with good employment relations practice to disclose for the purpose of collective bargaining. The information appropriate for disclosure will vary according to the request but is likely to include some of the following: principles and structures of pay and reward systems; analysis of earnings and hours of work; total pay bill and benefits; terms and conditions of employment; workforce planning statistics; and business outlook. In addition, routine human resources information is shared with recognised trade unions as part of our normal engagement, for example TUs are provided with anonymised workforce data which includes staffing numbers, turnover and activity levels on a monthly basis. There is a range of HR information published on the GOV.UK which is therefore publicly available. |
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation affects the right of recognised unions in his Department to bargaining information as set out in Section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This answer is in respect of the Attorney General’s Office, the Government Legal Department, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.
The introduction of GDPR has not affected the rights of unions in the organisations above in relation to bargaining information provided under section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department complies with the requirement set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code that time off with pay for safety representatives will not be set against facility time allowed under existing arrangements.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This part of the response is in relation to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the Government Legal Department (GLD), and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI).
The three organisations above, and Government more widely, recognise that there are significant benefits to both employers and employees when organisations and unions work together effectively to deliver high quality public services. Whilst facility time within the public sector must be accountable and represent value for money, departments have an obligation to provide reasonable paid time off to recognised trade union representatives to undertake trade union duties. This includes paid time off for safety representatives as set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code.
In line with the legislative obligation, set out in the Trade Union Act (2016), information relating to facility time for relevant union officials is published annually by GLD, with facility time defined by that Act as including time off taken by a relevant union official that is permitted by the official’s employer, including where this arises under “regulations made under section 2(4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The Serious Fraud Office (whose HR service is independent of the other Law Officer’s Departments) Facility Time Agreement allows for paid time off for health and safety representatives but that time off is set against the overall level of facility time agreed between the employer and the 3 recognised trade unions.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the additional staff required by his Department in the event that the UK leaves the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Attorney General’s Office, a small ministerial department, is recruiting four staff members (full time equivalent) specifically to support EU Exit in 2019/20 if the UK leaves the EU with or without a deal. This is in addition to the work ongoing from existing resources.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The table below shows the number of staff employed by the Attorney General’s Office on 20 December 2018 and 23 June 2016 respectively:
Employment Type | 23 June 2016 | 20 December 2018 |
Permanent | 15 | 16 |
Fixed Term | 1 | 1 |
Loan In | 24 | 24 |
Secondment In | 3 | 5 |
Agency Worker | 0 | 1 |
Total | 43 | 47 |