On these forums, on the 8th February,
BASSAwitch asked about BASSA accounts, and indicated she was questioning BASSA about the subject. I hope she has familiarised herself with the appropriate part of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, available here
Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
Chapter III deals with
Trade union administration and these are the sections applicable:
Accounting records
28. Duty to keep accounting records.
29. Duty to keep records available for inspection.
30. Right of access to accounting records.
31. Remedy for failure to comply with request for access.
[Interestingly, Chapter III also has a very clear requirement that "A trade union shall compile and maintain a register of the names and addresses of its members, and shall secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the entries in the register are accurate and are kept up-to-date", but we will leave that laugh for another time.]
Anyone wishing to enquire about BASSA's accounts should read this:
30 Right of access to accounting records.
(1)A member of a trade union has a right to request access to any accounting records of the union which are available for inspection and relate to periods including a time when he was a member of the union.
In the case of records relating to a branch or section of the union, it is immaterial whether he was a member of that branch or section.
(2)Where such access is requested the union shall—
(a)make arrangements with the member for him to be allowed to inspect the records requested before the end of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the day the request was made,
(b)allow him and any accountant accompanying him for the purpose to inspect the records at the time and place arranged, and
(c)secure that at the time of the inspection he is allowed to take, or is supplied with, any copies of, or of extracts from, records inspected by him which he requires.
(3)The inspection shall be at a reasonable hour and at the place where the records are normally kept, unless the parties to the arrangements agree otherwise.
(4)An “accountant” means a person who is eligible for appointment as a [F14statutory auditor under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006].
(5)The union need not allow the member to be accompanied by an accountant if the accountant fails to enter into such agreement as the union may reasonably require for protecting the confidentiality of the records.
(6)Where a member who makes a request for access to a union’s accounting records is informed by the union, before any arrangements are made in pursuance of the request—
(a)of the union’s intention to charge for allowing him to inspect the records to which the request relates, for allowing him to take copies of, or extracts from, those records or for supplying any such copies, and
(b)of the principles in accordance with which its charges will be determined,
then, where the union complies with the request, he is liable to pay the union on demand such amount, not exceeding the reasonable administrative expenses incurred by the union in complying with the request, as is determined in accordance with those principles.
(7)In this section “member”, in relation to a trade union consisting wholly or partly of, or of representatives of, constituent or affiliated organisations, includes a member of any of the constituent or affiliated organisations.
So, from
30 (1) it is plain to see that you have a "
right to request access to any accounting records of the union which are available for inspection and relate to periods including a time when he was a member of the union". You may have since left Unite and/or BASSA but you can ask for accounting records from when you were a member!
If BASSA cannot find, or will not allow you access, you may move to
Section 31 for remedy, i.e. apply to the courts for access. Section
31 (1) states that "
A person who claims that a trade union has failed in any respect to comply with a request made by him under section 30 may apply to the court [F15or to the Certification Officer]."
I suspect BASSA has an awful lot to hide, financially and otherwise, hence this recent flurry of activity to register BASSA Ltd, and apparently only now legalise it's (future) accounting. I am willing to bet that
BASSA has not kept valid accounting records for many years, and therefore cannot supply them to anyone who asks, including it's members who have a
right to ask to examine them. Not only that, but other members of Unite also have that right - see last sentence of
30 (1) !!!
BASSA is desperately worried that it's shady practises are going to be exposed by a flood of requests to see it's accounts. Those practises included the money that has 'slushed' around it's committee members. BASSA and ex-BASSA members need to be asking some very pointed questions of where the millions have gone - BASSA must by law account for every penny ...... and they cannot! Are BASSA and ex-BASSA members happy to have been ripped off and robbed blind over all these years? If not, do something about it - it's fraud!
Don't be fobbed off grubby one-page bits of paper - you're entitled to see
full and legal accounts!