I'm guessing the Tories will be happy that I'm not going to repeat all of the information I made in the last—[Interruption.] But there are some common themes, and, fundamentally, those are the opposition of employers to what is contained in the Tories' UK legislation and in this amendment and the complete lack of understanding by the Tories of what unions do and how they work. And the most important aspect of this amendment, I think, is to focus on the benefits of facility time and not get bogged down in the costly kind of reporting procedures that are being proposed.

Following publication of the UK Government's initial proposals for its Trade Union Bill in 2016, Warwick University's business school undertook research into facility time in the public services across the UK, and the conclusion of their research was that the presence of workplace representatives who rely on facility time to perform their duties is associated with higher workplace performance. Therefore, conversely, reducing facility time is likely to have detrimental effects.

And commenting on the Westminster Government's own data, the University's Professor of human resource management stated:

‘Overall, the evidence suggests that both full and part-time workplace…representatives help improve performance in the public sector and that managers widely recognise this to be the case.’

The proposed legislation to limit the amount of time that representatives can spend on their representative duties appears unnecessary and may reduce workplace performance in the public sector.

Now, I’ve already referred to the significant benefits of social partnership arrangements here in Wales. It should be recognised that, in addition to lay official involvement, a significant amount of work undertaken in partnership working comes from paid officials of the trade unions, at no cost to the public purse. These officials invest union resources in work that is integral to the official delivery of, and changes to, public services in Wales—something, again, the Welsh Conservatives are seemingly unable to grasp. But, of course, it goes well beyond that. At workplace level, the public service employers understand what, clearly, the Tories don’t. Former WLGA leader Bob Wellington commented:

‘Facility time enables councils to consult and negotiate with trade union officials representing the workforce, and therefore actually saves considerable time and resources’.

It is therefore

‘essential in our view, and very much in the interests of council tax payers to see it maintained.’

The Welsh NHS Confederation and NHS employers have said:

‘Trade union representatives provide a vital role in developing and working with NHS workplace policies and procedures. They support staff and their members with mediation and navigation through policies and workplace issues which supports the smooth running of the service.’