Union political 
fund rules


All unions with political funds have amended their fund rules satisfactorily, according to the certification officer (CO), who must approve the amended rules under the 2016 Trade Union Act.


The Act brought a number of changes to unions’ administrative and reporting requirements, one of which was to require members joining unions with political funds to opt in to the fund if they wish to contribute to it, rather than being automatically enrolled as was previously the case. Unions were required to change their rules to this effect before 1 March 2018. According to the CO’s 2017-18 annual report, all unions have done this, and all rule changes were approved. 


The report revealed that the total sum contained in the 24 union political funds in the year covered had increased by £2.3 million from the previous year, to £34 million.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/726077/14291_COMPLETE_Cert_Off_Ann_Rep_2017-2018.pdf