FOI-03839

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

##Request 

<p><i>‘I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.</i></p>

<p><i>For the purposes of this request, 'facility time' means paid time off from normal NHS duties to carry out trade union duties or activities, as defined in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the Cabinet Office facility time reporting framework. '100 per cent facility time' means individuals for whom 100 per cent of their contractual working time is recorded as facility time in the Trust's facility time annual return.</i></p>

<p><i>Please provide aggregated management information already held for the reporting period 1 April 2024 to most recent available.</i></p>

<p><i>(1) The total number of employees recorded as spending 100 per cent of their working time on facility time, broken down by NHS staff group (medical and dental; nursing and midwifery registered; allied health professionals; scientific, therapeutic and technical; administrative and clerical; additional clinical services; estates and ancillary).</i></p>

<p><i>(2) The total cost to the Trust of facility time for employees recorded at 100 per cent in (1), as compiled for the Trust's Cabinet Office facility time annual return.</i></p>

<p><i>(3) The total number of trade union representatives in the Trust at any percentage of facility time, and the aggregate cost of all facility time as returned to the Cabinet Office.</i></p>

<p><i>I am requesting aggregate figures only and no information identifying any individual employee.</i></p>

<p><i>Please treat each numbered question as severable. Please provide the information in electronic format.’</i></p>

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 19 May 2026.  

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). 

##Our response 

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. 

The below figures relate to the 2024/25 financial year. These are the latest figures we currently have available.  

Please note, the NHSBSA is not an NHS Trust, and we do not report these figures to the Cabinet Office. 

__Question 1 - The total number of employees recorded as spending 100 per cent of their working time on facility time, broken down by NHS staff group (medical and dental; nursing and midwifery registered; allied health professionals; scientific, therapeutic and technical; administrative and clerical; additional clinical services; estates and ancillary).__

1 employee; admin and clerical. 

__Question 2 - The total cost to the Trust of facility time for employees recorded at 100 per cent in (1), as compiled for the Trust's Cabinet Office facility time annual return.__

£34,067.01 

__Question 3 - The total number of trade union representatives in the Trust at any percentage of facility time, and the aggregate cost of all facility time as returned to the Cabinet Office.__

24 

__Data Queries__

Please contact <a href=mailto:foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a> ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. 

__Reusing the data and copyright__

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact c<a href=mailto:communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/  

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence. 

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.

Tags: facility time, trade union representatives
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log