At least 3,041 full time equivalent public sector staff worked on trade union duties at expense to the taxpayer last year, the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) reports.

In their most extensive survey of national and local government, the TPA finds that trade unions received at least £113m in subsidies from taxpayers over the last year through a combination of paid staff time and direct payments.

The report concludes that the proportion of public sector staff working for trade unions may also be rising, with public sector employment falling by over twice as much as similar decreases in the number of full time equivalent staff working on union duties.

Research from the TPA also finds that only 21% of the 1,087 public sector organisations deducting membership subscriptions for trade unions currently charge the unions for that service.

Birmingham City Council employ 70 full time equivalent staff working on trade union business, the highest number in any local authority.

Second to Birmingham, 27 full time equivalent staff at Nottingham City Council work on trade union duties.

Chief executive of the TPA, Matthew Sinclair, said: ‘It is simply wrong that taxpayers are seeing their money used to pay thousands of trade union activists who organise strikes which disrupt the services they rely on and pay for handsomely. Thousands of staff who should be working for public services are working for the trade unions instead.

‘Managers at too many public sector organisations are completely failing in their responsibility to control these costs and even keep proper records of the subsidies they are providing to the trade unions. Tens of millions of pounds are being wasted and supporting aggressive political campaigns. The Government needs at least to extend the proposed reforms to the entire public sector and cut this scandalous subsidy,’ Sinclair added.

A Trades Union Congress spokesperson said: ‘Facility time is granted by employers because it helps good relations in the workplace, improves communication and stops problems escalating into disputes. Union reps in the public and private sector help save employers millions of pounds a year. Scrapping facility time as the Taxpayers’ Alliance want would harm employers as much as employees.’