FOI 26-239 Trade Union Facilities Time

Freedom of Information Request

Reference
FOI 26-239 Trade Union Facilities Time
Request Date
21 May 2026
Response Date
29 May 2026
Information Requested

I am writing to formally request a detailed breakdown of trade union facility time and the associated costs within the organisation for the most recent reporting period. 
 
To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the resources allocated, please provide the following information: 
 
• Trade Union Time (Facility Time): The total number of hours allocated for trade union duties and activities, broken down by recognised trade unions within the organisation. 
 
• Staff Headcount: The total number of employees who were relevant union officials during this period, including a distinction between full-time and part-time staff. 
 
• Pay Banding: A breakdown of the pay bandings (or salary scales) of the staff members who have been granted facility time. 
 
• Financial Cost: The total cost incurred by the organisation for trade union facility time, alongside the percentage of the total pay bill spent on it. 
 
• Time Allocation Percentage: The number of representatives who spent 0%, 1–50%, 51–99%, or 100% of their working hours on facility time. 

Response

The Scottish Ambulance Service publishes trade union facility time data annually within its Annual Report and Accounts in line with the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017. 

 

The most recent information can be accessed here - Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 

 

Specifically, page 60 of the 2024/25 report provides: 

  • The number of relevant trade union officials 
  • The percentage of time spent on facility time (0%, 1–50%, 51–99%, 100%) 
  • The total cost of facility time and the percentage of the total pay bill spent on it 
  • The proportion of paid facility time spent on trade union activities 

 

This information fulfils the following parts of your request: 

  • Staff Headcount (number of relevant union officials) 
  • Time Allocation Percentage 
  • Financial Cost (including percentage of pay bill) 

 

It is for this reason we have applied section 25 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002 to these sections of your requests as information that is otherwise accessible. 

 

The Scottish Ambulance Service holds records of trade union facility time requests, including the trade union affiliation and the number of hours allocated for each instance. 

This is held separately from the information available. 

For the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, the total facility time by recognised trade union has been collated from those records and is set out in the table below. 

 

Trade Union 

Total Hours (01/04/2025 – 31/03/2026) 

GMB 

12,093.64 hours 

Unite 

6,696.33 hours 

Unison 

5,735.72 hours 

RCN 

368.95 hours 

Total 

24,894.64 hours 

 

In relation to the distinction between full-time and part-time union representatives, and the pay banding of staff granted facility time, the Scottish Ambulance Service does not hold this information in a format that would allow it to be readily reported. While elements of this information may exist within separate systems, responding to this request would require a detailed manual review of individual records and the collation, analysis and creation of new datasets. Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, public authorities are not required to create new information in order to respond to a request; therefore, we are applying section 17(1) of FOISA, as this information is not held in a recorded form. 

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