An official inquiry has begun into whether the general secretary of the NASUWT has broken trade union law by being in post longer than five years without standing for re-election

A spokesperson for the government’s Certification Office, which is responsible for dealing with complaints against trade unions, has confirmed it is conducting the investigation into the length of general secretary Chris Keates’ period in office.

Ms Keates announced this month that she will be standing down after 15 years in the job. However, there have been suggestions that she may have served longer than the legal period of five years for her latest term.

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It was reported by Tes more than five years ago, on June 3 2014, that Ms Keates had been appointed to a third term in office after no other candidates stood for election. There has not been an election for her post since.

Inquiry into NASUWT leadership

Today the union did not respond when asked by Tes to confirm the date when Ms Keates began her latest term in office.

A spokesperson for the Certifcation Office said: “We‘ve had an enquiry about the issue of whether Chris Keates has overstayed her period as general secretary.

“An inquiry is now taking place and we’ll be communicating [with different parties] to get a clear idea about what is going on. The certification officer will then consider whether a complaint should go to a hearing.”

The possible breach relates to the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act.

The penalty would not be financial, but there can be a declaration on the Certification Office website and possibly an enforcement order to remedy the breach.

The Certification Office confirmed that the process could take at least six months.

The NASUWT said it had no knowledge of the inquiry and declined to comment. But the union said a timetable for the election of a new general secretary would be issued following the NASUWT national executive meeting in July, and that, in the interim, Ms Keates will continue to fulfil the duties of general secretary.

NASUWT president Dave Kitchen said it would “not be a quick election”.

He told Tes: “It’s a major appointment and there won’t be a change in general secretary over the summer.

“You’re talking about a multi-million-pound concern with 270,000 members. You can’t replace someone like Chris quickly.”

He said the national executive meeting would seek to draw up a person specification, job description and salary and pension for the post, as well as dates for voting and dates for applications to be submitted.