Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations

3. Mr O complains about the way the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations (the CO) handled his complaint, about his trade union, between February and June 2025. Specifically, Mr O complains the CO failed to provide a formal decision or declaration to his complaint, despite his submission of detailed evidence regarding the Union’s rule breaches.

4. Mr O says because the CO did not issue a formal decision or declaration, he was denied access to the statutory appeal mechanism to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). He says this represents a loss of procedural rights and regulatory accountability. He says the absence of a formal determination has left the underlying issues unresolved and has prevented independent scrutiny of the alleged rule breaches.

5. By bringing this complaint to us Mr O seeks a finding as to whether the CO failed to discharge its statutory functions in handling his complaint. He says if this is the case he is seeking appropriate acknowledgement and corrective action to ensure that statutory complaints are determined in a clear, lawful, and appealable manner.

8. The law (the Parliamentary Commissioner Act) says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the right of appeal to a tribunal, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mr O to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

9. Mr O says the CO failed to issue a formal decision on his complaint. He says this meant he was unable to appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) as no formal decision was issued.

10. Mr O told us he is seeking confirmation if the CO failed to discharge its statutory functions in handling his complaint, appropriate acknowledgement and corrective action to ensure complaints are determined in a clear, lawful, and appealable manner. These are outcomes the EAT could provide.

11. We contacted Mr O to discuss how far he had tried to pursue his appeal with the EAT.

12. Mr O told us he has not completed a notice of appeal form or contacted the EAT about his appeal. He says because the CO did not make a determination or declaration on his complaint, there was effectively nothing he could appeal to the EAT. For that reason, he did not consider it possible to submit a notice of appeal.

13. Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 section 108C states “An appeal lies to the Employment Appeal Tribunal on any question arising in proceedings before or arising from any decision of the Certification Officer under this Chapter.”

14. There does not appear to be anything within this section that prevents Mr O from appealing the CO’s decision not to investigate his complaint. The section referred to above states ‘any’ question arising from ‘any’ decision can be appealed.

15. The CO’s complaint responses on 17 April and 9 May also say that if it closes or does not uphold Mr O’s complaint, he can appeal to the EAT.

16. Further, the CO’s letter dated 27 June 2025 addresses Mr O’s concerns about not being able to appeal due to not having a formal decision. The CO clarified this is not the case and advised Mr O to contact the EAT for any questions about how to submit an appeal.

17. Therefore, Mr O has the legal route of appeal to the EAT. Given Mr O’s complaint to us involves concerns about not being able to appeal the CO’s decision not to investigate, we consider he is willing and therefore it is reasonable for him to pursue this. For this reason, we cannot consider Mr O’s complaint further at this time.

18. If Mr O is dissatisfied following the outcome of the tribunal, he could contact us again. However, we would have to think carefully about which parts of his complaint we could consider. It is likely we would not be able to consider issues or outcomes the tribunal did or could have considered.

19. We thank Mr O for bringing his complaint to us.

1. We have carefully considered Mr O’s complaint about the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations (the CO). We were sorry to hear how stressful these events were for Mr O.

2. We consider Mr O has the right to appeal the CO’s decision not to investigate his complaint and this is reasonable for him to pursue. Therefore, we cannot take any further action at this time. This is explained below.