New annual reporting duty — industrial action 


The TUA16, once in force, will introduce a new obligation on trade unions to make an annual return to the Certification Officer (CO) of all industrial action “taken in response to any inducement” by the union, detailing the nature of the trade dispute and of the industrial action, when the action was taken, and the results of any ballots for that industrial action, including detailed information breaking down the results of the ballot (section 32ZA, TULCRA, section 231, TULRCA, as amended, section 7, TUA16). The new reporting duty will be added to Form AR21, the existing trade union annual return on membership, funding and other issues (see Chapter 5). Failure to comply fully with the new reporting duty could lead to a legal enforcement order (equivalent to a court order) and financial penalties of up to £20,000 (sections 16, 17, and Schedule 1, TUA16, Schedule 3, Paragraph 6(3), TULRCA).