Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill

House of Commons

Session 2013 - 14
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Other Bills before Parliament

Lords Amendments to the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill

LORDS amendments to the
Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill
[The page and line references are to HL Bill 50, the bill as first printed for the Lords.]
Clause 2
1
Page 2, line 7, after “secretary” insert “or special adviser”
2
Page 2, line 18, leave out “the Minister or permanent secretary” and insert “the

person to whom the communication is made”
3
Page 2, line 19, leave out “the communication” and insert “it”
4
Page 2, leave out lines 24 and 25 and insert—

““Minister of the Crown” means the holder of an office in the

government, and includes the Treasury;”
Clause 4
5
Page 3, line 12, at end insert—

“(fa)
a statement of—

(i)
whether there is in place an undertaking by the person to

comply with a relevant code of conduct, and

(ii)
if so, where a copy of the code may be inspected;”
6
Page 3, line 29, at beginning insert “In this section—”
7
Page 3, line 31, at end insert—

“(b)
a “relevant code of conduct” (in subsection (2)(fa)) is a code of

conduct which governs the carrying on of the business of

consultant lobbying (whether or not it also governs other activities)

and is open to inspection by members of the public.”
Clause 9
8
Page 5, line 24, leave out subsection (7) and insert—

Bill 158 55/3

2

“( )
Where an information notice has been served on a person, the Registrar

may cancel it by serving written notice to that effect on the person.”
Clause 12
9
Page 6, line 25, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—

“( )
any individual who, not being entered in the register, engages in

lobbying in the course of that business.”
Clause 16
10
Page 8, line 37, leave out subsection (7) and insert—

“(7)
Where a penalty notice has been served on a person, the Registrar may vary

or cancel it by serving written notice to that effect on the person.”
Clause 20
11
Page 9, line 41, leave out “of notices under section 16(7)” and insert “under section

16(7) of penalty notices”
Clause 21
12
Page 10, line 21, leave out subsection (3) and insert—

“( )
The Registrar may publish—

(a)
revisions to any guidance published under this section;

(b)
replacement guidance.”
Clause 22
13
Page 10, line 34, at end insert “(whether or not those costs are directly connected

with the keeping of the register)”
14
Page 10, line 40, leave out subsection (6)
Clause 24
15
Page 11, line 27, leave out subsection (5) and insert—

“( )
A statutory instrument containing any of the following regulations may

not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and

approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament—

(a)
regulations under section 4(5)(a) or 5(4);

(b)
the first regulations to be made under each of sections 11(3) and

17(3);

(c)
regulations under this Part which amend or modify the provisions

of this Part.”
Clause 26
16
Page 13, line 20, at end insert—

“( )
In section 87 of that Act (expenditure by third parties which is not

controlled expenditure)—

(a)
in subsection (1), omit paragraph (a) and the “or” at the end of it;

3

(b)
omit subsection (2).”
17
Page 13, line 23, leave out subsection (8) and insert—

“( )
After subsection (4) insert—

“(4A)
It is a defence for any person or third party charged with an offence

under subsection (2) or (4) to show—

(a)
that any code of practice for the time being issued under

paragraph 2 of Schedule 8A was complied with in

determining whether any expenditure is controlled

expenditure for the purposes of this Part, and

(b)
that the offence would not have been committed on the

basis of the controlled expenditure as determined in

accordance with the code.””
After Clause 26
18
Insert the following new Clause—


“Arrangements between third parties notified to the Electoral Commission

(1)
Part 6 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (controls

relating to third party national election campaigns) is amended as follows.

(2)
In section 94 (limits on controlled expenditure by third parties)—

(a)
after subsection (3) insert—

“(3A)
For provision requiring certain controlled expenditure to be

disregarded in determining for the purposes of subsection

(3)(a) whether a limit is exceeded, see section 94B(3)

(arrangements between third parties notified to the

Commission).”;

(b)
in subsection (4), for “such a case” substitute “the case mentioned in

subsection (3)”;

(c)
in subsection (5A)—

(i)
after “Subsections (3) to (5)” insert “and section 94B(3) to

(7)”;

(ii)
for “those subsections” substitute “those provisions”;

(d)
in subsections (8) and (10), after “the purposes of this section” insert

“, sections 94A and 94B”;

(e)
in subsection (11)(a), after “this section” insert “and sections 94A

and 94B”.

(3)
After section 94 insert—

“94A
Arrangements between third parties notified to the Commission

(1)
A recognised third party may, at any time before the end of a

regulated period, send a notice to the Commission—

(a)
stating that it is party to an arrangement of the kind

mentioned in section 94(6),

(b)
undertaking to be a lead campaigner in relation to the

arrangement, and

4

(c)
identifying one or more other third parties that are parties

to the arrangement and have undertaken to be minor

campaigners in relation to it.

(2)
A recognised third party that has sent a notice under subsection (1)

may, at any time before the end of the regulated period, send one or

more supplementary notices to the Commission identifying

additional third parties that are parties to the arrangement and

have undertaken to be minor campaigners in relation to it.

(3)
As from the date of receipt by the Commission of—

(a)
a notice under subsection (1), the recognised third party that

sent the notice becomes “a lead campaigner” in relation to

the arrangement;

(b)
a notice under subsection (1) or (2), a third party identified

in the notice becomes “a minor campaigner” in relation to

the arrangement.

(4)
A notice under subsection (1) or (2) may not—

(a)
identify as a minor campaigner a third party that is a lead

campaigner in relation to the same arrangement, or

(b)
be sent by a recognised Gibraltar third party.

(5)
The Commission must, as soon as reasonably practicable after

receiving—

(a)
a notice under subsection (1), enter in the register

maintained under section 89 (register of notifications) the

fact that the recognised third party that sent the notice is a

lead campaigner in relation to the arrangement;

(b)
a notice under subsection (1) or (2), enter in that register the

name of each third party identified in the notice and the fact

that it is a minor campaigner in relation to the arrangement.

(6)
For provision about the effect of sending a notice under this section,

see section 94B.

94B
Effect where arrangements are notified under section 94A

(1)
Subsection (2) applies where controlled expenditure is incurred

during a regulated period in a part of the United Kingdom—

(a)
by or on behalf of a minor campaigner in relation to an

arrangement, and

(b)
in pursuance of the arrangement.

(2)
The expenditure is treated for the purposes of sections 96 to 99A

(returns as to controlled expenditure) as having also been incurred,

during the period and in the part of the United Kingdom

concerned, by or on behalf of any lead campaigner in relation to the

arrangement who sent a notice under section 94A(1) or (2)

identifying the minor campaigner.

(3)
In determining for the purposes of section 94(3)(a) whether a limit

is exceeded by a third party during a regulated period, controlled

expenditure incurred by or on behalf of the third party is to be

disregarded if—

(a)
conditions A and B are met in relation to the expenditure,

and

5

(b)
condition C is met.

(4)
Condition A is that the expenditure—

(a)
is incurred in pursuance of an arrangement that has been

notified to the Commission under section 94A(1), and

(b)
is, by virtue of section 94(6), treated for the purposes of

section 94 and Schedule 10 as incurred by or on behalf of the

third party.

(5)
Condition B is that the third party is, at the time the expenditure is

incurred, a minor campaigner in relation to the arrangement.

(6)
Condition C is that—

(a)
the total of the controlled expenditure incurred during the

regulated period in any part of the United Kingdom by or

on behalf of the third party, disregarding any expenditure

in relation to which conditions A and B are met, does not

exceed the limit for that part mentioned in section 94(5), and

(b)
in the case of a regulated period in relation to which any

limit is imposed by paragraph 3, 9, 10 or 11 of Schedule 10

(periods involving parliamentary general elections), the

total of the controlled expenditure incurred during the

regulated period in any particular constituency by or on

behalf of the third party, disregarding any expenditure in

relation to which conditions A and B are met, does not

exceed the limit mentioned in section 94(5ZA).

(7)
References in subsection (6) to controlled expenditure incurred by

or on behalf of the third party include controlled expenditure that

is, by virtue of section 94(6), treated for the purposes of section 94

and Schedule 10 as so incurred.”

(4)
In section 99 (declaration by responsible person as to return under section

96), after subsection (2) insert—

“(2A)
Subsection (2)(b)(ii) does not apply to expenses that are treated as

incurred by or on behalf of the recognised third party by virtue of

section 94B(2) (arrangements between third parties notified to the

Commission).””
Clause 27
19
Page 14, line 42, leave out subsection (1) and insert—

“(1)
Section 94 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

(limits on controlled expenditure by third parties) is amended in

accordance with subsections (1A) to (1E).

(1A)
In subsection (3), for paragraph (a) (but not the “and” after it) substitute—

“(a)
either—

(i)
during a regulated period, any controlled

expenditure is incurred in a part of the United

Kingdom by or on behalf of a third party in excess of

the limit for that part of the United Kingdom

mentioned in subsection (5), or

(ii)
during a regulated period in relation to which any

limit is imposed by paragraph 3, 9, 10 or 11 of

6

Schedule 10 (periods involving parliamentary

general elections), any controlled expenditure is

incurred in a particular parliamentary constituency

by or on behalf of a third party in excess of the limit

mentioned in subsection (5ZA),”.

(1B)
In subsection (5)—

(a)
in the opening words, for “(3)” substitute “(3)(a)(i)”;

(b)
in paragraph (a), for “£10,000” substitute “£20,000”;

(c)
in paragraph (b), for “£5,000” substitute “£10,000.”

(1C)
After subsection (5) insert—

“(5ZA)
The limit referred to in subsection (3)(a)(ii) is 0.05% of the total of

the maximum campaign expenditure limits in England, Scotland,

Wales and Northern Ireland.”

(1D)
In subsection (5A) for “(5)” substitute “(5ZA)”.

(1E)
In subsection (10), omit the “and” at the end of paragraph (c) and after

paragraph (d) insert—

“(e)
the “maximum campaign expenditure limit” in a part of the

United Kingdom is the limit imposed by paragraph 3 of

Schedule 9 in relation to campaign expenditure incurred in

the relevant period (within the meaning of that paragraph)

by or on behalf of a registered party which contests all the

constituencies in that part (and to which sub-paragraph (6)

of that paragraph does not apply).””
20
Page 15, line 3, leave out from “substitute” to end of line 5 and insert “—

“(a)
in relation to England, 2% of the maximum campaign

expenditure limit in England;

(b)
in relation to Scotland, £20,000 plus 2% of the maximum

campaign expenditure limit in Scotland;

(c)
in relation to Wales, £20,000 plus 2% of the maximum

campaign expenditure limit in Wales;

(d)
in relation to Northern Ireland, £20,000 plus 2% of the

maximum campaign expenditure limit in Northern

Ireland.””
21
Page 15, line 6, leave out paragraph (b)
Clause 28
22
Page 15, line 29, leave out from “(10),” to “insert” in line 30 and insert “after

paragraph (e) (as inserted by section 27)”
23
Page 15, line 33, leave out “that Schedule” and insert “Schedule 10”
24
Page 15, line 38, leave out from “exceeded” to end of line 41 and insert “0.04% of

the total of the maximum campaign expenditure limits in England, Scotland,

Wales and Northern Ireland;”
25
Page 16, line 1, leave out paragraph (c)
26
Page 16, leave out lines 10 to 23 and insert—