Certification Officer for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations: press announcement
The annual report of the Certification Officer, Sarah Bedwell, was laid before Parliament on 6 July 2023. The report describes the work of the Certification Officer in 2022/23 and includes statistical information relating to trade unions and employers' associations for 2021.
Lists of trade unions and employers' associations
The office completed a review of the official lists of trade unions and employers' associations in the reporting year. The review began in September 2021. It resulted in the removal of a total of 43 employers' associations and 19 trade unions. This was 51% and 13% respectively of the organisations that were on the list on 31 March 2021.
One new trade union was added to the list during 2022/23.
Trade union membership and finances
Trade union membership decreased by 19% - from 6.7 million in 2020-2021 to 5.4 million in 2021-2022.
Total assets of trade unions decreased by 11.5% from £2.6 billion to £2.3 billion.
Political funds
Twenty-one unions have political funds. The total amount held in those political funds was £30 million, a decrease of 42% compared to the previous year.
Complaints
The Certification Officer issued decisions on 27 complaints from members against their trade unions. Of these, 1 was withdrawn, 15 struck out, 3 were upheld and 8 dismissed.
New powers
The amendments brought in by The Trade Union Act 2016 mean that trade unions and employers' associations are now required to pay a levy to fund the costs of the Certification Officer's office. The total costs which need to be funded, for this year, through the levy are £656,672.
The amendments also allow the Certification Officer to:
- Consider whether an organisation has breached certain statutory responsibilities without having first received a complaint from a member of that organisation or another eligible party.
- Impose a financial penalty order or conditional financial penalty order where she finds that an organisation has breached its statutory responsibilities and/or its rules.
The Certification Officer considered the use of those powers on two occasions but concluded that it was not appropriate to engage them in the circumstances.
Notes:
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The Certification Officer is the independent regulator for trade unions, appointed by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Sarah Bedwell was appointed to the post on 1 January 2018.
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All figures are taken from the annual returns received from organisations during the reporting year.
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