Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of HMRC compliance with the requirement 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.

As a department HMRC have an obligation to provide reasonable paid time off to recognised trade union representatives to undertake trade union duties. This will include paid time off as necessary for safety representatives as set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code.

HMRC have a legislative obligation, set out in the Trade Union Act (2016), that 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”.