Mar.18, 10:00 GMT, 2010

Unite, and the two unions that formed it, received the public money under two little-known funds to improve management and training for its members.

It has been the biggest beneficiary of one of the schemes, the Union Modernisation Fund, and received a sixth of all the money given out under the Union Learning Fund.

The figures have led to fresh claims that Britain’s biggest union has taken over the Labour Party after donating almost £30million over the past decade and employing a key adviser to Gordon Brown as its political director.

It comes ahead of a planned three-day walkout by Unite members of BA’s cabin crew this weekend, which is set to cause travel chaos for thousands of passengers.

Francis Maude, the Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said: “This really looks like money laundering - taxpayers' money is being funnelled into Unite then put straight back into Labour's coffers.

“It's a real racket, with taxpayers' money being round-tripped into Gordon Brown's re-election fund. We must have much greater transparency on what unions are receiving from the Labour Government in return for their backhanders.”

Unite, which claims to have 2million members, was formed through a merger of Amicus and the Transport & General Workers Union in 2007.

Electoral Commission figures show it has long been Labour’s most important donor, giving £29,541,155 since January 2001.

The union is accused by the Tories of assuming power and influence over the party it “bankrolls”, getting left-wing policies implemented in law and winning support from ministers for its campaigns and industrial disputes.

Unite’s political director, Charlie Whelan, has returned to the heart of Mr Brown’s spin operation as an unofficial aide, having previously served as his special adviser. He is regularly seen in Downing Street and has a Westminster pass.

Several Unite officials have been selected as Labour candidates for the forthcoming general election, including Jack Dromey, who is married to the party’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman.

But this newspaper has established that the union has also received large amounts of taxpayers’ money, amounting to more than half of its donations to Labour.

Since 1998, Unite, Amicus and the TGWU have received £17,396,498 under the Union Learning Fund, 17 per cent of the total money handed out by the Government.

The Union Learning Fund was set up in 1998 in order to encourage union reps and members to improve their education and training.

Now administered by a body called Unionlearn with the help of the Trades Union Congress, it hands out more than £15m a year to unions who bid for local projects. Its aim is to help unions improve the skills and education of their members, particularly by training Union Learning Reps who encourage colleagues in the workplace to take up new courses and gain qualifications.

Mr Brown announced increased funding for the scheme at the TUC conference in September 2007, just months after he became Prime Minister, calling it “the biggest transformation of trades unions since the growth of the shop steward movement”.

But details of where the money goes are not published while annual evaluation reports ceased several years ago.

An analysis commissioned by the Government but carried out by York Consulting in 2006 found there was no framework “against which the employment/economic impact can be measured” and that “unions do not collate monitoring data in a form which is consistent and which is accurate and reliable”.

It stated: “Although the evaluation has tried to generate ‘evidence’ from unions of the impact of the ULF particularly on their strategic development, it is difficult to substantiate the majority of claims from unions against other sources.

“Unions, are to a large extent, dependent upon external funding. ULF has been a major part of that funding. Therefore, statement demonstrating a positive impact, could typically be expected. In addition, employers can only offer a first hand estimate of the value and impact of ULF on their workforce. There has been no attempt currently to develop quantifiable impact analysis indicators.”

Unite has been given £382,469 under the Union Modernisation Fund since 2006. This is higher than the amount received by any other union including Unison (£345,832), which represents public sector workers; Usdaw (£291,075), the shop workers’ body; and the GMB (£257,476).

The Union Modernisation Fund is administered by Lord Mandelson’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. In total, it has given out more than £7m since it was set up in 2006.

It is intended to help the unions train reps, make their management structures better and reach out to new and younger members through the internet. Unions must put in bids for grants for specific projects, and match the sum with their own cash.

Opposition parties have claimed it is a “bung” to groups that support Labour both politically and financially.

The unions that formed Unite were also given public funds under the Partnership at Work Fund in the early years of New Labour. Amicus worked on a project to tackle bullying in the workplace, called Dignity at Work, which was backed by BA and which received £1m from ministers.

A spokesman for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills said: “Since the Union Learning Fund began in 1998 it has provided £17,396,498 to Unite, Amicus and the TGWU.

"This figure is 17% of the total fund, although Unite and Amicus actually represent 25% of the TUC.

"In the last 12 years the Government has supported over 800,000 ordinary workers through the ULF, helping them access training that meets their needs and those of their employers."

Tom Wilson, director of unionlearn, said: “Almost three quarters of a million people have benefited directly from the Union Learning Fund, which has made learning and training possible for them in the past 12 years. A major part of the ULF’s work is improving basic literacy, numeracy and computer skills in the workforce. We work with thousands of businesses to invest in their employees. Evidence shows that ULF money encourages employers to additionally invest in training. ULF has been held up to Ofsted inspection and all ULF projects are subject to independent audit.”