My Lords, I do not think that I have a great deal to add on that point now but I have some observations which, with the noble Lord’s agreement, I will move on to. Before doing so, I will comment on the question which the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, rightly asked about whether we got the impact assessment wrong. My understanding is that it was not a mistake. The point is that the public in general have an interest in good regulation—in employers, in employees, in families and in the wider public. That is perhaps what we should have said. We are scrutinising this but I am not seeking to change the impact assessment, which has obviously been looked at carefully in the usual way.
Of course the provisions in the Bill have to be proportionate and give effective regulation. As I see it, we are bringing the current powers of the Certification Officer up to date with the accepted normal situation in other sectors. I shall leave the financial services sector on one side, because I want to get through the debate this evening, but perhaps I could give some other examples. There is the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Groceries Code Adjudicator, which has been mentioned. The Charity Commission, the Electoral Commission, the Gambling Commission, Ofcom, the Food Standards Agency, the Environment Agency, Natural England, and Ofwat—it is a long list—can all consider representations from third parties and undertake investigations if appropriate.
I am not sure whether I agree with the noble Lords, Lord Mendelsohn and Lord Oates, on the subject of the costs. The Certification Officer has given views on the potential costs necessary to undertake the new regulatory function and I understand that his comments were consistent with the estimates we have set out in the Bill’s impact assessment. I think he said, rightly in my view, “I do not want to employ rafts of people only for them to be underused. I want to see what happens and increase numbers as appropriate”. My understanding is that we agree that the annual cost will be around £2 million. However, to respond to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Oates, although I can confirm that the Certification Officer was not consulted before the Bill entered Parliament, we have engaged with him
and will continue to do so as we move towards implementing the reform. As the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, suggested, we want to continue a tradition of good compliance.
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Amendments 98, 99, 100, 106, 107 and 108 relate to the new investigatory powers which would prevent the Certification Officer acting in the absence of a complaint from a member. As I have said, the Certification Officer’s powers to investigate or take action to ensure compliance are limited unless he receives an application from a member, and I see no reason to treat unions differently from other organisations in other sectors. Furthermore, the powers we are giving the Certification Officer to request documents and information are not new. He has had these powers to investigate the financial affairs of trade unions for many years. Similar powers of investigation are also available to a range of regulators and bodies.
In response to a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, as with other regulators, deterrence is an important aspect. As the impact assessment says, we expect only a modest increase in complaints. The current system relies on union members being aware of the union’s obligation, which is not what most other sectors rely on as the sole source of a regulator’s activity.