According to a GOV.UK notice updated on 1 September 2026, the Certification Officer has listed five forthcoming hearings running from 9 September 2026 to 25 March 2027. The cases involve Unite the Union, the Communication Workers Union, the British Medical Association, TSSA and Prospect, and concern alleged breaches of union rules or other matters under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. (gov.uk) For policy readers, the schedule is more than an administrative diary. It shows where formal disputes over union elections, disciplinary action and internal decision-making are moving into a statutory forum, with public notice given in advance. (gov.uk)
The Certification Officer’s own governance statement describes the office as an independent statutory office holder regulating trade unions and employers’ associations. It says recent caselaw developments have changed how complaints are handled and that the office expects an increase in formal decisions and formal hearings during 2026 to 2027. (gov.uk) The hearing procedures published by the office state that a hearing is used to determine a complaint where there is a dispute between an applicant and a union about an alleged breach of rule or of the law, and that the process is intended to test the evidence and give both sides the opportunity to put their case. (gov.uk)
Much of this schedule sits under section 108A of the 1992 Act. In the Certification Officer’s guidance, section 108A applications are described as applications about an alleged breach, or threatened breach, of a union rule relating to one of the listed matters; applicants should normally first try to resolve the issue through the union’s internal complaints procedure, and the same matter cannot be pursued before both the Certification Officer and a court. (gov.uk) That procedural point matters because it places these hearings at the end of a structured route rather than at the start of a workplace disagreement. By the time a case is listed, the issue has usually moved beyond informal resolution and into a formal question of governance or compliance. (gov.uk)
The first listed case is Parker and Unite the Union, scheduled for 9 to 10 September 2026. According to the GOV.UK notice, the applicant has made three complaints under section 108A alleging rule breaches connected to elections at the Bramley branch and to the removal of Mr Parker from his post as full-time Convenor. (gov.uk) A second autumn hearing, Dabrowski and Whitehouse and the Communication Workers Union, is listed for 20 to 22 October 2026. The published summary says the two applicants allege breaches of union rules in relation to the union’s 2026 branch elections, keeping branch election administration within the Certification Officer’s active caseload. (gov.uk)
The November listing is Ali and the British Medical Association, set for 10 to 11 November 2026. The Certification Officer’s notice says the applicant has brought six complaints covering disciplinary proceedings by the union and other separate matters under the 1992 Act. (gov.uk) That matters because the office’s published casework is not confined to ballots and elections. Recent decisions published by the Certification Officer show disciplinary-rule disputes continuing to reach formal determination, which suggests that internal due process remains a live issue across several unions. (gov.uk)
Beyond 2026, the schedule extends into early 2027. Bates, Floyd and Mangan v TSSA is listed for 2 to 4 February 2027, with separate applications alleging rule breaches connected to the 2026 National Treasurer election and disciplinary proceedings against Mr Bates; Hughes v Prospect follows on 25 March 2027, with a complaint about the constitution and proceedings of a decision-making meeting. (gov.uk) Taken together, the five cases show the spread of matters that can reach the regulator: branch elections, national officer elections, disciplinary proceedings and meeting procedure. The common thread is not industrial strategy or collective bargaining, but whether unions have followed their own constitutional rules and the statutory framework that sits behind them. (gov.uk)
The published access arrangements are also part of the policy story. The hearings page says these cases will be heard remotely using Zoom, while the office’s general procedures say hearings will normally be held by Zoom unless the Certification Officer decides otherwise. Observers can request joining details from the Certification Office, and the page states that attendees needing a reasonable adjustment should contact the office directly. (gov.uk) For unions, members and labour-law practitioners, advance publication of hearing dates is a transparency measure as well as a case-management step. The Certification Officer’s governance statement says the office will continue to list forthcoming hearings on GOV.UK and keep stakeholders informed of outcomes, which makes this timetable a useful indicator of where formal governance disputes are likely to be tested over the coming months. (gov.uk)