CERTIFICATION OFFICE FOR TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT

The Annual Report of the Certification Officer, Sarah Bedwell, was laid before Parliament today 5 September 2019. The report describes the work of the Certification Officer over the year 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and provides detailed information on all trade unions and employers’ associations. The statistical information it contains is drawn from the annual returns received during the reporting period, which relate mainly to the year ending 31 December 2017.

TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCES

• Figures reported to the Certification Officer show total trade union membership of 6,767,824. This is a decrease of 107,407 members or 1.6%. This continues the decrease in union membership for the tenth successive year. The 13 largest unions account for over four fifths of the total trade union membership (5.78 million members or 85.5%)

• The number of trade unions has also continued to decrease, notwithstanding the modest increase in 2014-15. There were 142 trade unions on the Certification Officer’s lists and schedules at the end of this reporting period, compared to 146 at the end of the previous period. Whilst two trade unions were added to the list, six removed. At the end of this reporting period there were 90 employers’ associations, a decrease of one because one was removed. (Chapter 1).

• The total funds (net assets) of trade unions as reported in this period increased of 25.8% to £1,645 million. The 13 largest unions, that each have membership in excess of 100,000 members, had average net assets of £58 million (Chapter 2, Appendix 4).

• The total sum contained in the political funds of the trade unions at the end of this period was £35million. This is up – (1.32) million, from 34.03- million the previous year. The largest political fund was that of Unite the Union, which was valued at around £14.5 million (Chapter 4 and Appendix 9).

COMPLAINTS Over the past reporting year 46 complaints were determined. This compares to 44 complaints in the previous reporting year. Of these, 42 complaints alleged that a union had breached its own rules. The other 4 related to alleged breaches of statute. A summary of these decisions can be found in Chapter 5 of this report.

THE TRADE UNION ACT 2016 • Three sections of the Act, that relate to the work of the Certification Officer, have been implemented: Section 7 Information to Certification Officer about industrial action etc; Section 11: Opting in by union members to contribute to political funds; and Section 12: Union’s annual return to include details of political expenditure

All these provisions are now consolidated into the Trade Union Labour Relations Act 1992 and were commenced on 1 March 2017.

SECTION 32ZA AND 32ZB OF THE TRADE UNION LABOUR RELATIONS ACT 1992

INFORMATION TO CERTIFICATION OFFICER ABOUT INDUSTRIAL ACTION ETC

New duties to report on political expenditure and to provide information about industrial action apply to the reporting periods which begin after 1 March 2017. For the majority of trade unions this will mean that they will provide this information, for the first time, in their annual returns to me for the period ending 31 December 2018 which should be provided to me before 1 June 2019.

Ballots and Industrial Action – This office received 23 annual returns from unions who were required to report this information.

Political Fund expenditure –Only one union was required to report this information in this reporting year.

84A OF THE TRADE UNION LABOUR RELATIONS ACT 1992

OPTING IN BY UNION MEMBERS TO CONTRIBUTE TO POLITICAL FUNDS

The law relating to the way members of trade unions contribute to the political funds of their unions has been amended to favour a system of opting in rather that requiring members to opt out of making an otherwise automatic contribution. These unions must also notify their members who joined after the implementation date of their right to withdraw an opt-in notice and send a copy to this office.

All unions which were required to provide a copy of this notification during this reporting period did so.

Notes to editors:

1. The annual report of the Certification Officer for Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations was published and laid before Parliament on 5 September 2019. It is available on the Certification Office website: www.gov.uk/certificationofficer.

2. The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended, sets out the Certification Officer’s statutory responsibilities. Section 258 requires the Certification Officer to make an annual report on his activities to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and to the Chair of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). The report must be laid before Parliament and published.

3. The Certification Officer is appointed by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and resourced through Acas, but is independent of any direction from Ministers or Acas. Sarah Bedwell was appointed to the post on 1 January 2018.

4. The Certification Officer’s website contains every decision made by the Certification Officer since 1975. It contains all the annual returns from trade unions and employers associations since 2012, with links to The National Archives website for returns from between 2003 and 2012. It also contains guidance on various aspects of the Certification Officer’s functions, copies or links to Annual Reports going back to 2001-2002 and a list of trade unions and employers’ associations.

5. The Certification Officer invites you to subscribe to his email service to receive notice of any new items posted to the website. Visit the website: www.gov.uk/certificationofficer, to subscribe.

6. The Certification Officer has reported the following figures for trade union membership over the past 10 reporting years.

For press enquiries please contact Thomas Price, telephone: 0330 109 3613, e-mail: thomas.price@certoffice.org

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has therefore suspended preparations for court action in relation to those issues. However, it has not ruled out future action if the problems recur or if other issues are identified.

In July the CMA put the ticket resale site on notice that it was moving forward with contempt of court action following repeated warnings that viagogo had not done enough to comply with a court order the CMA secured against it. viagogo has now addressed the UK competition authority’s outstanding concerns about how it presents information.

Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, said:

The viagogo website UK customers now visit is worlds apart from the one they faced before the CMA took action. Key information needed to make informed decisions before buying a ticket is now much clearer including on where you’ll sit in a venue and whether you might be turned away at the door. 

What is clearly not acceptable is the time it’s taken to get to this stage. Stronger consumer powers are required in the secondary ticketing sector and we will continue to work with the Government on the most effective way to achieve this. A key part will be the Government’s existing plans to give the CMA stronger consumer protection powers, so that it can rule on whether a company has broken the law and impose fines on those infringing companies.

We will keep up the pressure on viagogo to ensure that it continues to comply with UK consumer protection law.

In October 2019 a further independent review of viagogo’s compliance with the court order will be completed. If the results of this review, or any other fresh information, suggests the company is not meeting its obligations then the CMA will not hesitate to take further action – through the courts if necessary.

Margaret Edwards has been re-appointed as the non-executive chair of the Civil Service Pension Board for a further 3 year term effective from 1 October 2019.

Margaret Edwards said:

I am delighted to accept this extension and look forward to working with colleagues in the Cabinet Office to ensure that the Board is effective and more representative of the community we serve.

Published 5 September 2019

Cyclists around the country will benefit from more than 20 new and improved cycling routes, thanks to a £20 million government investment.

Cycling Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has today unveiled 22 upgrades for the National Cycle Network, including new routes, better surfacing, and improved links to other transport modes.

The schemes announced today (5 September 2019) follow 10 other projects announced earlier this year, to upgrade the National Cycle Network, which spans more than 16,000 miles of on-road and off-road cycling and walking paths.

Cycling and Walking Minister Chris Heaton-Harris, said:

Cycling and walking are sustainable forms of transport, which help to keep people active and clean up the quality of our air.

This funding will put the right infrastructure in place, so people can enjoy new routes on foot or by bike, supporting the government’s ambition for cycling and walking to become the natural choice for shorter journeys by 2040.

The funding focuses on fixing dangerous junctions, reducing traffic levels, building better surfaces, creating more accessible paths, and improving route signage. The projects include:

• re-routing the Fylde coastal path to become traffic-free, between Blackpool and St. Anne’s
• creating a new pedestrian and cycleway, the Gooseholme Bridge in Kendal
• improving accessibility and safety of the Liverpool Loopline
• a community-led re-design to improve the quality of the existing Bristol and Bath railway path
• improving signage and building a new crossing for the Wolverhampton Wayfinding.
• building a traffic-free and accessible HS2 corridor from Sheffield to Doncaster
• constructing a new traffic-free path alongside HS2 in Buckinghamshire

While the funding will be used to improve the quality of existing sections of the network, the projects will also improve integration with existing infrastructure. For example, cycle routes around HS2 in areas including Sheffield, Doncaster and Buckinghamshire will benefit from improved connectivity and safer off-road routes.

Anita Konrad, National Director, England at Sustrans, the walking and cycling charity and the custodian of the National Cycle Network, said:

The National Cycle Network is a UK-wide asset which helps nearly 4.4 million people make car-free journeys each year, benefitting local economies, public health and the environment.

This investment will help build on the network’s success and we look forward to working with local authorities and partner organisations around England to achieve a network of walking and cycling paths that are safer and more accessible for everyone, regardless of their age and abilities.

The cycling and walking investment strategy, published in 2017 sets out the government’s ambitious plan for active travel. Almost £2 billion is projected to be invested over this Spending Review period in cycling and walking between 2016/17 and 2020/21 and investment per head has increased three-fold since 2010.

The government’s long-term vision is for cycling and walking to become the natural choice for all shorter journeys, or as part of longer journeys, by 2040.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom has welcomed a significant boost for UK science in the government’s Spending Round, committing to significantly support investment in research and development (R&D).

In his Spending Round statement on Wednesday, Chancellor Sajid Javid confirmed the government’s ambition to achieve at least 2.4% of UK gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027.

The UK has long led the world in scientific breakthroughs, and this commitment will demonstrate that the UK will continue to hold its own on the global stage in research and innovations after Britain leaves the European Union.

In the autumn, the government will set out plans to significantly boost public R&D funding. This will enable us to support excellent research, and will build on achievements of recent years through our renowned universities and other institutions such as the Laboratory for Molecular Biology and The Alan Turing Institute, and back high-tech sectors which have the potential to boost our economy and benefit people across the country.

This also follows plans for a new fast-track visa process for highly-skilled scientists, encouraging the world’s brightest and best to choose the UK to study and work on the latest scientific innovations and breakthroughs.

In addition, Ms Leadsom welcomed an additional £30 million over the next year to support the UK’s world-leading efforts to tackle climate change, helping to meet the country’s legally binding target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The UK was among the first countries to put this clear target into law – and recently doubled support to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the UN Green Climate Fund. This new funding also comes on top of the £3 billion already being spent on low-carbon innovations.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said:

Leaving the European Union will offer the UK a wealth of opportunities, and the measures in the Spending Round will ensure we can make the most of them.

From Rosalind Franklin to Alan Turing, our scientific heritage is second to none, and our renewed commitment to invest at least 2.4% of our GDP in research and development will ensure this continues long into the future. The additional £30 million for tackling climate change will also ensure we continue to lead the world in tackling this critical issue.

And alongside investing in maintaining our global position in these fields, I’m proud that we’re also investing to improve people’s everyday lives and tackling head-on that small minority of firms that underpay their workers – ensuring that people get the pay they are entitled to.

Read the full list of announcements