Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Priti Patel Excerpts
Wednesday 12th March 2014

(10 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Maude of Horsham Portrait Mr Maude
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As I say, it is a matter for Departments to decide for themselves. A number of trade unions take the view that it is much better to have a direct relationship with their members than to have it intermediated through the employer—it is a rather more modern way to run things.

Priti Patel Portrait Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)
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Does my right hon. Friend think that it is fair on hard-working British taxpayers that their money is used to subsidise the administration of trade unions rather than going to front-line services?

Lord Maude of Horsham Portrait Mr Maude
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My hon. Friend has been a doughty campaigner for the use of facility time to be much better regulated. We inherited from Labour a position in which very large amounts of public money were being spent on subsidising 250 full-time officials in the civil service alone, let alone in the wider public sector. I am happy to tell her that we have got that under control.