Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, 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.

DFID, like all Government Departments, has 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 this legislative obligation, set out in the Trade Union Act (2016), information relating to facility time for relevant union officials is published annually, 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”).