New powers for the Certification Officer


The role of Certification Officer (CO) was first created in 1975 as an independent and neutral agency appointed by the government, in consultation with Acas, to regulate trade unions and employers’ associations. The CO’s functions and powers, set out in TULRCA, were relatively limited and included maintaining a list of trade unions, certifying whether trade unions are independent, and dealing with complaints about union elections and political fund ballots. 


Once fully in force, the Trade Union Act 2016 (TUA16) will radically transform and politicise the role, by amending TULRCA to give the CO a range of new powers to investigate unions, in some cases even if no complaint has been made (section 15 and 16, TUA16).


Schedule 1 of the Act will give the CO new powers to demand immediate production by unions of documents, including membership records, to check that the union is complying with its statutory obligations concerning membership, funding, internal elections and ballots for the political fund, to take copies, and to demand that the officer producing the documents provides an explanation for them.


The Act also includes a new statutory power for the CO to appoint inspectors, either from its own staff or as an external appointment of the CO’s choice, with power to summon union officers to appear before them and to give all reasonable assistance with their investigation. 


The Act (section 7) will also place a new obligation on unions to include in the Annual Return (Form AR21) new information on all industrial action, including the nature of the dispute, the date(s) and type of action and the results of the strike ballot (see Chapter 6).


Under sections 16 and 17 of the TUA16, the CO will be able to impose fines on unions of up to £20,000, using new enforcement powers.


Section 18(1) TUA16 will allow the secretary of state to make regulations for the introduction of a levy on unions and employers’ associations to fund the running costs of the CO. These costs can be expected to increase significantly with these new powers and responsibilities. However, the government has conceded that the levy will only pay for part of the costs of the CO and will exclude the more expensive costs of any external investigators. There is to be consultation with Acas and the TUC over the levy regulations.


Responding to opposition to the Bill in the House of Lords, the government has promised that the CO will be free from ministerial direction and will be appointed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.