Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to facilitate engagement with trade unions representing police, fire and border security staff.

The Home Office places significant importance on building industrial relations with representative workforce organisations for police, fire and border security. I can advise specifically of the following:

Police

Police staff are employed by each force and report into their respective Chief Constables. The Home Office meets with unions that represent police staff on a regular basis to understand the issues of importance to their members.

Police officers are represented by their police staff associations and not trade unions, and the Home Office meets with these organisations on a regular basis.

Fire and Rescue Services

The Home Office is proactively engaging with unions in relation to fire and rescue related policy and has conducted ministerial and official level engagement with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and other representative organisations. We have also created a Ministerial Advisory Group, with representation from senior leaders across the sector, including the FBU.

Border Security Staff

Border security staff are employed by the Home Office. The department has long standing trade union recognition and engagement arrangements, which seek to ensure unions representing border security staff are appropriately engaged on matters impacting their members.