23.—(1) Subject to regulation 24, the UK members of the special negotiating body shall be elected by balloting the UK employees.
(2) The management of the participating companies that employ UK employees (“the management”) must arrange for the holding of a ballot or ballots of those employees in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (3).
(3) The requirements referred to in paragraph (2) are—
(a)in relation to the election of ordinary members under regulation 21(2), that—
(i)if the number of members which UK employees are entitled to elect to the special negotiating body is equal to the number of participating companies which have UK employees, there shall be separate ballots of the UK employees in each participating company;
(ii)if the number of members which the UK employees are entitled to elect to the special negotiating body is greater than the number of participating companies which have UK employees, there shall be separate ballots of the UK employees in each participating company and the management shall ensure, as far as practicable, that at least one member representing each such participating company is elected to the special negotiating body and that the number of members representing each company is proportionate to the number of employees in that company;
(iii)if the number of members which the UK employees are entitled to elect to the special negotiating body is smaller than the number of participating companies which have employees in the UK,—
(aa)the number of ballots held shall be equivalent to the number of members to be elected;
(bb)a separate ballot shall be held in respect of each of the participating companies with the higher or highest number of employees; and
(cc)it shall be ensured that any employees of a participating company in respect of which a ballot does not have to be held are entitled to vote in a ballot held in respect of one of the other participating companies; and
(iv)if there are any UK employees employed by a concerned subsidiary or establishment of non-UK participating companies, the management shall ensure that those employees are entitled to vote in a ballot held pursuant to this regulation.
(b)that in relation to the ballot of additional members under regulation 21(3) the management shall hold a separate ballot in respect of each participating company entitled to elect an additional member.
(c)that in a ballot in respect of a particular participating company, all UK employees employed by that participating company or by its concerned subsidiaries or at its concerned establishments are entitled to vote;
(d)that in a ballot in respect of a particular participating company, any person who is immediately before the latest time at which a person may become a candidate—
(i)a UK employee employed by that participating company, by any of its concerned subsidiaries or at any of its concerned establishments; or
(ii)if the management of that participating company so permits, a representative of a trade union who is not an employee of that participating company or any of its concerned subsidiaries, is entitled to stand as a candidate for election as a member of the special negotiating body in that ballot.
(e)that the management must, in accordance with paragraph (7), appoint an independent ballot supervisor to supervise the conduct of the ballot of UK employees but may instead, where there is to be more than one ballot, appoint more than one independent ballot supervisor in accordance with that paragraph, each of whom is to supervise such of the separate ballots as the management may determine, provided that each separate ballot is supervised by a supervisor;
(f)that after the management has formulated proposals as to the arrangements for the ballot of UK employees and before it has published the final arrangements under sub-paragraph (g) it must, so far as reasonably practicable, consult with the UK employees' representatives on the proposed arrangements for the ballot of UK employees; and
(g)that the management must publish the final arrangements for the ballot of UK employees in such manner as to bring them to the attention of, so far as reasonably practicable, all UK employees and the UK employees' representatives.
(4) Any UK employee or UK employees' representative who believes that the arrangements for the ballot of the UK employees do not comply with the requirements of paragraph (3) may, within a period of 21 days beginning on the date on which the management published the final arrangements under sub-paragraph (g), present a complaint to the CAC.
(5) Where the CAC finds the complaint well-founded it shall make a declaration to that effect and may make an order requiring the management to modify the arrangements it has made for the ballot of UK employees or to satisfy the requirements in sub-paragraph (f) or (g) of paragraph (3).
(6) An order under paragraph (5) shall specify the modifications to the arrangements which the management is required to make and the requirements it must satisfy.
(7) A person is an independent ballot supervisor for the purposes of paragraph (3)(e) if the management reasonably believes that he will carry out any functions conferred on him in relation to the ballot competently and has no reasonable grounds for believing that his independence in relation to the ballot might reasonably be called into question.