One of England's largest city councils has accused the Government of trying to 'criminalise' authorities that collect trade union subscriptions through payroll. The leader of Plymouth City Council, Cllr Tudor Evans, said he feared senior staff could be prosecuted if town halls continued with a scheme that, he claimed, remained cheap and popular. Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock last week proposed withdrawing the current scheme allowing 3.8 million public sector staff to pay trade union subscriptions through their employer's payroll system. The proposal forms part of the forthcoming Trade Union Bill, which had its first reading in the House of Commons last month. Mr Hancock described the system as 'outdated' in an era of direct debits and warned it was 'time to get rid [of it]'.
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