Committee member and Certification Officer

Stephen Hardy

Biography

Stephen Hardy is a Professor of Employment Law and formerly the Dean of the Faculty of Business, Law & Politics at the University of Hull (2020-2024).

He has over 3 decades experience in higher education and was a practising Barrister, specialising in Employment and Public law, instructed in complex trades union, equality, redundancy, dismissal and judicial review cases; including being appointed Regional Treasury Counsel and on the Panel of Preferred Counsel of the Equality Human Rights Commission.

Since 2011, he has been a Fee-paid Judge of the First-Tier Tribunal and was a member of the Judicial Pensions Board (2019-2023). He was a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee. In 2021 he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and since 2022, has been a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Committee member

Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to:

  • give advice on social security issues as it sees fit
  • consider and report on social security regulations that have been referred to it
  • advise on matters referred to it by the Secretary of State or the Northern Ireland department responsible for social security
  • scrutinise the products produced by the Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Advisory Committee

Certification Officer

The functions of the Certification Officer are contained in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (as amended). They include:

  • maintaining a list of trade unions and employers’ associations
  • receiving, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and keeping available for public inspection annual returns from trade unions and employers’ associations
  • determining complaints concerning trade union elections, certain other ballots and certain breaches of trade union rules
  • ensuring observance of statutory requirements governing mergers between trade unions and between employers’ associations
  • overseeing the political funds and the finances of trade unions and employers’ associations
  • certifying the independence of trade unions

Certification Officer