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 - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
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 - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
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 - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
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, what human resources information their Department shares with trade unions on a regular basis.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
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: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what his current policy is on the wearing of face coverings in his (a) Department, (b) departmental agencies and (c) related bodies during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Throughout the pandemic, the Civil Service, including the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Government Legal Department (GLD), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), have followed, and continue to follow, the latest government guidance in relation to managing the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace, including any variations between the four nations of the UK.
In England, the BEIS ‘Working Safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)’ guidance provides sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff. The guidance is available via this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19/offices-factories-and-labs#offices-7-2.
Whilst it is for individual employers to determine which mitigations are appropriate to adopt as they review their workplace risk assessments in light of the updated guidance. Face coverings, which are no longer required by law, are one possible mitigation employers could adopt if the situation / context warranted it.
HMCTS requires all court users to continue to wear face coverings in court buildings. The CPS’s advice to staff, which has been agreed with trade unions is that, unless exempt, all court users are required to wear a face covering in all public areas of court and tribunal buildings.
The AGO, GLD, CPS, SFO and HMCPSI fully support individuals who choose to wear a face covering in the workplace.
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: Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many civil servants in the Law Officers' Departments are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to the Law Officers' Departments.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Law Officers Departments do not hold complete records of the number of staff who are enrolled in a trade union as there is no obligation placed on a trade union to disclose this information to employers.
Records are however maintained on the amount of facility time claimed during the financial year 2014/15 and the cost involved, as detailed below.
Law Officers’ Departments – Trade Union facility time and costs in 2014-15 | ||
Facility time (hours) 2 | Cost | |
Government Legal Department1 | 2,206.2 | £46,302 |
Serious Fraud Office | 129.6 | £4,069 |
Crown Prosecution Service | 14,267 | £351,929 |
1 The GLD data also covers the Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.
2 Only nominated trade union representatives are granted facility time.
The Cabinet Office publishes data relating to Civil Service facility time on a quarterly basis. The latest data is Quarter 4, 2014 at and is available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-facility-time .