FOI Request - Trade Unions

Request 101003650562

1. The details of any office accommodation your organisation provides to staff to carry out trade union business. Please include details of:
• space measured in square feet
• how much of this space is contained within entirely separate buildings (i.e. occupied solely by staff carrying out trade union business)

•  whether a professional valuation of the market rental value of the space has been sought either in-house or externally, and if so, what the valuation of the space was

•  any charges the council levy for office space given to trade unions.

2. Do you deduct trade union subscriptions for any of your employees via payroll (sometimes known as the "check off" system)? If so, do you charge a fee to the trade unions concerned for providing this service?

3. With regard to trade union facility time, please provide the total cost of facility time from your pay bill for the financial year 2023/24 and the budget for the current financial year. Please also advise the current number of employees that you fund to be union officials, measured as full time equivalents? (For guidance on definitions please refer to the Government's Transparency Code for local government: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-transparency-code-2015/local-government-transparency-code-2015)

4.  Please advise any estimates for other costs met for those staff on trade union facility time apart from salaries - including travel expenses, office supplies, telephone expenses and energy bills.

Response 13-11-2024

1. We are only aware of two spaces solely for trade union business, those are as follows -

Room 307c in the Council HQ building. It is 10.25 square metres that equates to 108.26 square feet,
and room 101 in the Ashgrove Portacabins. It is 19.75 square metres that equates to 208.56 square feet.

Neither space is in an exclusive building, and we are not aware of us carrying out any valuation, nor of us charging them for these spaces.

2. Yes, 2.5% of contributions

3. £181191.61 – no budget is set as it is as per need. 18.7 FTE

4. None