Trade Union Bill

Lord Ouseley Excerpts

Thursday 25th February 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

My Lords, I am reluctant to detain the Committee longer than is necessary, but I would like to complement the remarks of my colleague, my noble friend Lord Oates, and will therefore contain my remarks on subsequent amendments.

We need to get to the root of the issue about why this reform, particularly this clause, is necessary. In evidence, as we have heard, the Certification Officer said that there was no evidence of pressure for change. The impact assessment contains some clever drafting. It says:

“At present there is scope to broaden the powers and sanctions available to the Certification Officer”.

But there is no real mention of what the need is and why it is so essential. It says that there is a need to do this to “ensure greater union compliance” and that the Certification Officer should have “more powerful sanctions” and extended powers to investigate. Why is that necessary?

I have also read the Certification Officer’s report. It was 10 years since I read the last one, so I read it twice: once to understand it, and then again to analyse the complaints made to the Certification Officer. And what I found was quite remarkable—this is where it differs from the financial sector. The sector has a turnover of £1 billion and 7 million members, which is not unsubstantial, yet what did we see in the Certification Officer’s report last year? We saw 57 complaints, 47 of which were on union rules and were made by 19 applicants. This is a mere handful of complaints.

I also analysed the costs. I am surprised that a Conservative Government do not respect an organisation that, since 2007-08, has reduced its expenditure—now at £560,000—by 16.5%. Of that expenditure, only £150,000 was spent on complaints. So where is this great build-up of complaints that makes necessary these additions to legislation to further control and examine and provide for extra sanctions?

On the rule of law, I think we can take issue with what has been said about the financial sector. Are trade unions a part of our society that does not believe in the rule of law in terms of the Certification Officer? Great detail is required in the submission of returns, in dealing with inquiries and, when dealing with complaints, in providing extra information. According to the analysis, 98.8% of all returns to this body come in on time. These are not organisations that are disregarding the rule of law in the current situation. So you have to ask why these extra powers are now required.

It is not easy for people who have been in the trade union movement to argue against third-party complainants but in any political organisation, there are cranks. The Conservative Party will have them as much as every other political party, and the trade unions have a number of cranks as well. If you open up complaints to third parties you open up to the world of cranks, and you have to ask: is there any sign of a build-up of complaints from third parties that needs to be answered? According to the Certification Officer, he had only 500 inquiries in the year of his last report, and 200 of those were probably just asking to see the accounts. They were not complaints, they were just general inquiries. There is absolutely no reason for this increased bureaucracy to be imposed on the trade unions. Frankly, in pretty much every other business sector the Conservative Government would totally reject this incursion.

The 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Bill had 303 clauses. Since then we have heard from the Certification Officer, and I have given the level of complaints and issues. It is actually working very well. Reading the evidence of the Certification Officer to the Select Committee, he seems a very honourable public servant of long standing and we should listen to his experience. As I say, this Bill has only 25 clauses yet the Government seem to think that it is required to further add to powers to investigate, enforce and so on with regard to the trade unions. There is no justification for this and we need an explanation of why the Government think it is necessary.

[Lord Ouseley (CB)]

My Lords, I want to make a very short contribution. The noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, has said virtually everything I was going to say, far better than I would be able to, and I am pleased about that. However, it is important to stress that Clause 15 represents an affront to fairness, justice and proportionality.

The Certification Officer’s independence, impartiality and integrity will be compromised by Clause 15. The new expansive investigatory powers and sanctions being vested in the Certification Officer, from the position of reasonableness, as we have heard, would in effect be likely to result in uncontrolled, unaccountable and non-independent interventions in trade unions’ reasonable and legitimate activities. There is no evidential basis to suggest that the expansion of powers is justified.

I will not repeat the assessment by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has been alluded to already, with regard to contraventions of the European Convention on Human Rights. I would like to reiterate one point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, about Clause 15 and related schedules being relevant to the UK’s other legal obligations, particularly the International Labour Organization’s Convention 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. Will the Minister please indicate how the Government intend to respond to the ILO committee of experts’ request that the Government review a number of provisions in the Bill and provide comments on the proposals to extend the powers of the Certification Officer?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Neville-Rolfe) (Con)]

My Lords, the sore throat that I have been keeping at bay all week overwhelmed me earlier so I apologise to the House. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, for what I think I should call solidarity because she presented me with some Fisherman’s Friends so that I can get through the rest of today. I also congratulate my noble friend Lord Courtown on his interesting contribution to the Committee’s proceedings, and all noble Lords who have spoken in this important debate.

In our manifesto, we said that we would reform the role of the Certification Officer and we are doing just that with, it is fair to say, a great deal of scrutiny in this House. The Certification Officer has responsibility to consider complaints relating to important union processes. It is vital that we have confidence that those processes are conducted properly. For example, the Certification Officer can consider complaints in relation to union leadership elections, union mergers or the accuracy of trade union membership registers—which matter a lot if there is a ballot—or to ensuring the removal from a union office of a person who has been convicted of certain financial offences.

I would argue that there is a legitimate public interest in trade unions running their affairs according to what is required of them. It is not always the case that union members will know their union’s regulatory duties. That is why a responsive and diligent regulator is necessary. I hope that is agreed.