The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Order 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This is the second Commencement Order under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (c. 4) (“the 2014 Act”) and commences provisions in Part 3 of the 2014 Act. Provisions commenced by the first Commencement Order are noted below.

Sections 40 and 41 of the 2014 Act amended Chapter III of Part 1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (1992 c.52) (“the 1992 Act”), to insert sections 24ZA to 24ZG. These new sections impose the requirement on a trade union to provide a membership audit certificate as well as the requirement to appoint an assurer where the trade union has more than 10,000 members.

Section 41 of the 2014 Act, insofar as it inserted section 24ZB(3) of the 1992 Act, came into force on the passing of the 2014 Act, for the purpose of making orders.

Article 3(1) commences the remaining provisions of sections 40 and 41 of the 2014 Act on 6th April 2015, and applies to a reporting period (as defined in article 2) which commences on or after that date.

Article 3(2) provides that the requirement inserted by section 41(2) of the 2014 Act, and contained in the first sentence in new section 24ZC(1) of the 1992 Act, does not apply to a trade union until the last day of a trade union’s first reporting period on or after 6th April 2015. This provision requires the rules of trade unions to provide for the appointment and removal of an assurer.

Article 4 commences sections 42 and 43 of the 2014 Act on 1st June 2016, inserting sections 24ZH to 24C into the 1992 Act. These provisions give the Certification Officer investigatory and enforcement powers in relation to the requirements inserted into the 1992 Act by sections 40 and 41 of the 2014 Act.