FOI/EIR 25/26-514-Trade Unions

Details of Trade Union costs

Request received 30 January 2026

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 2024/25 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? 

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.

Responded 12 February 2026

1.n/a
2. Yes, currently there is no fee charged for this.
3. Please see: Open data: Trade union facility time | Open data | East Cambridgeshire District Council
4. Zero