Written statement by (Parliamentary Under Secretary
of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility
(Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy)
Section 4 of the Trade Union Act 2016 makes provision for the
Secretary of State to commission an independent Review concerning
electronic balloting for the purposes of ballots held under section
226 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act
1992.
It was announced that Sir Ken Knight would be undertaking the
independent Review on 3 November 2016.
The Government was particularly keen to understand the electronic
and physical security of electronic balloting methods, including
the risks of interception, impersonation, hacking, and fraud and
misleading or irregular practices, as well as whether any system
could safeguard against risk of intimidation of union members and
protect anonymity of ballot responses. During the Review Sir Ken
Knight issued a call for evidence and conducted a number of
roundtables with key stakeholders to hear their views.
The Review is published today and I would like to place on record
my thanks to Sir Ken for his work. Under the terms of the Trade
Union Act 2016, the Secretary of State is now required to
consider the Review and, in preparing his response, must consult
relevant organisations, including professionals from expert
associations to seek their advice and recommendations.
Accordingly, we will now consider Sir Ken’s Review and respond in
due course.
