I start by responding to the noble Lord’s questions. On cost, I thought that that aspect of the impact assessment was quite helpful and clear, but I will look through it myself in the light of the questions that the noble Lord has asked and drop him a line. I will copy it to others who are interested, in all the nooks and crannies of this House, which I think is what we agreed on our previous day in Committee.
I also think that I went into some detail on the last amendment about how I saw judicial review and how the Certification Officer would need to act when looking at external, third-party complaints. But again, I will look at what I said, see if there is anything useful that I can add and cover that in the same letter.
The amendments seek to retain the current position by preventing the Certification Officer from making inquiries or taking enforcement action unless a complaint is received from a member in relation to two specific obligations—the duty to secure positions not held by certain offenders and a failure to comply with political ballot rules. As I have explained, the current system is reliant purely on complaints from union members. This relies on union members being aware of all the obligations on their union and of any failures to comply with them. Enabling the Certification Officer to consider potential failures without having to wait for a complaint from a member will enable him or her to take action should information on serious matters come to light, regardless of the source. That is consistent with our reform towards a more responsive and diligent regulator.
The noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, asked what the Certification Officer had said about these reforms. The Certification Officer set out how he might deal with the reforms and how they could be implemented when speaking to the committee.