APPENDIX 1: TRADE UNION BILL: GOVERNMENT
RESPONSE
Letter from Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State and Minister for Intellectual Property,
at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to Baroness Fookes,
Chairman of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee
The Report has focused on two delegated powers in
the Trade Union Bill namely Clause 11 (union's annual return to
include details of political expenditure) and Clause 12 (publication
requirements in relation to facility time).
Both these powers are to be exercised in accordance
with the negative resolution procedure and the Report has questioned
whether this would afford sufficient Parliamentary control.
Clause 11
Clause 11 of the Bill inserts a new section 32ZB
into the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act
1992. This provides that where political expenditure by a trade
union exceeds £2,000 in any calendar year, details of that
expenditure is to be included in the union's annual return. New
subsection 32ZB (2) provides that the sum of £2,000 can be
substituted by a sum not less than £2,000.
This provision seeks to future-proof the requirement
on trade unions and the intention is that it would be exercised
in order to raise the baseline to make the requirement less onerous
for unions. We have therefore said that his power should be subject
to the negative procedure.
The Committee has however noted that using the word
"substitute" means that whilst the amount which is substituted
cannot be less than £2,000, the baseline amount could be
increased to £3,000 or to £4,000 and then decreased
again to £2,000. The Committee has said that it will draw
this to the attention of the House so that the House can consider
whether the negative procedure provides a sufficient level of
Parliamentary scrutiny.
We are grateful for the scrutiny the Delegated Powers
and Regulatory Reform Committee brings to this provision and we
will give further consideration to the Committee's observations
on this delegated power.
Clause 12 - facility time - "relevant public
sector employer"
Clause 12 inserts new section 172A(9). This is a
power to provide that a person or body, that is not a public authority,
but has functions of a public nature and is funded wholly or partly
from public funds, is to be treated as a public authority and
is therefore subject to the publication requirements on the use
of facility time.
The Committee comments that the delegated powers
memorandum does not explain the kinds of organisation that the
Government proposes to treat as a public authority under subsection
(9). Further, the Committee understands that the provision could
be used to bring within scope a private company which is funded
wholly or partly by a local authority, and potentially charities.
In the light of what it regards as uncertainty, the
Committee is therefore of the view that the affirmative resolution
should apply to any regulations made under new section 172A(9).
We would like to reassure the Committee that it has
never been the Government's intention to capture private or voluntary
sector providers of contracted out public services or charitable
organisations. We specifically stated that these bodies would
not be included during the Committee stage in the House of Commons[8].
There may however be other employers whose functions are of a
public nature and are publicly funded - and who ought therefore
properly to be included - but which may not be considered as public
authorities - or where the boundaries of whether they are or not
is unclear. An example of this could be an academy trust or free
school. That is the reason for including new section 172A(9).
I intend to make a statement during the Lords Committee
debate on Clause 12 and will make clear which employers it applies
to in the public sector. I will also be making draft regulations
available during the passage of the Bill.
Once again, we are grateful for the comments made.
We will also give full consideration to the Committee's observations
on Clause 12.
2 February 2016
8 See col 346, the Public Bill Committee on the Trade
Union Bill, 8th Sitting, 22 October 2015 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmpublic/tradeunion/151022/pm/151022s01.htm
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