Reduced political powers
Richard Arthur explains the changes made to trade unions’ political funds as part of the Trade Union Act
Trade unions can only make payments for defined “political objects” from their political funds. “Political objects” on which expenditure is restricted in this way include not only contributing to or for political parties and candidates, holding meetings or conferences for political parties and producing material, but also payments in connection with the registration of electors and on material produced to persuade voters to vote for or against political parties.
Until the Trade Union Act (with the exception of Northern Ireland), members of a trade union with a political fund had to be given the right to opt out of making contributions to its political fund. The Trade Union Act reverses this into a requirement for members to opt in.
This is a government that doesn’t like opposition, and, as I explained in my article on the Certification Officer, has pursued a two-stage programme to make it more difficult for its detractors to make their voices heard.
The first stage came in the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 under which the amounts trade unions and other organisations could spend on campaigning was restricted. The second stage is this requirement for members to opt in under the Trade Union Act 2016.
Opt-in notice
It will only be lawful to require a trade union member to make contributions to the union’s political fund if the member has sent an opt-in notice. This can be delivered personally, by post, by email or other electronic means.
Notification of right to withdraw opt-in notice
A union with a political fund must notify all members contributing to it of their right to withdraw from contributing no later than eight weeks after sending its annual return to the Certification Officer. The notification can be given individually or by any other means that it is the practice of the union to use. A copy of the notification must be sent to the Certification Officer. A withdrawal notice takes effect one month after it has been sent.
Only applies to “new members”
Following significant concessions, the requirement to provide notice of opting in to contributing to the union’s political fund will only apply to “new members” of a union with a political fund. These will be members who join the union after a transition period to be defined in regulations and which will be not less than 12 months after the date on which the relevant provisions of the Trade Union Act come into force.
Trade unions’ annual returns: political expenditure
Annual returns sent to the Certification Officer will also have to contain additional information concerning political expenditure.
Where the expenditure of a trade union from its political fund in any calendar year exceeds £2,000 in total, then its return will have to include itemised details such as amounts of expenditure including payments to or for political parties, payments in connection with the registration of electors and payments to or for candidates in elections.
The Certification Officer will also receive a copy of the notification and unions will have to take all reasonable steps to ensure it will be received by members notifying them of their right to withdraw from contributing to the union’s political fund.
Conclusion
Significant concessions were achieved during the debate on the Bill in the House of Lords, which appointed a Select Committee on Trade Union Political Funds and Political Party Funding.
That Committee concluded that: “the reintroduction of the opt-in process will have a sizeable negative effect on the number of trade union members participating in political funds”.
The amendments contained in the original version of the Bill would not have been restricted to new members; unions would only have had a period of three months from the Act coming into force to get members to sign opt-in notices and members would not have been able to give notice of opting in electronically.
Nonetheless, coupled with the restrictions on non-party campaigning expenditure contained in the Lobbying and Transparency Act, and as recognised by the House of Lords Select Committee, the imposition of the requirement to opt in to contributing to a union’s political fund will cause a substantial reduction in the funds unions are able to give to political parties, and therefore affect their ability to bring pressure to bear on the government.