Political Parties Elections and Referendums Bill

Political Parties Elections and Referendums Bill - continued	House of Commons

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	PART VII
	REFERENDUMS
	Chapter 1
	Preliminary
	Referendums to which this Part applies
Referendums to which this Part applies.	95. - (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, this Part applies to any referendum held throughout-
	(a) the United Kingdom;
	(b) one or more of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; or
	(c) any region in England specified in Schedule 1 to the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998.
	(2) In this Part-
	(a) "referendum" means a referendum or other poll held, in pursuance of any provision made by or under an Act of Parliament, on one or more questions specified in or in accordance with any such provision;
	(b) "question" includes proposition (and "answer" accordingly includes response).
	(3) A poll held under section 36 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 is not, however, to be taken to be a referendum falling within subsection (2).
	(4) If the Secretary of State by order so provides-
	(a) subsection (2) shall apply to any specified Bill which has been introduced into Parliament before the making of the order as if it were an Act; and
	(b) any specified provisions of this Part shall apply, subject to any specified modifications, in relation to any specified referendum for which provision is made by the Bill.
	(5) In subsection (4) "specified" means specified in the order under that subsection.
Referendum period.	96. - (1) For the purposes of this Part the referendum period for any referendum to which this Part applies shall be determined in accordance with this section.
	(2) In the case of a referendum held in accordance with Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the referendum period-
	(a) begins with the date when the draft of an order under that Schedule is laid before Parliament for approval by each House in accordance with section 96(2) of that Act; and
	(b) ends with the date of the poll.
	(3) In the case of a referendum held in pursuance of any provision made by or under any other Act, the referendum period shall (subject to subsections (4) and (5)) be such period as is provided for by or under that Act.
	(4) In the case of a referendum to which an order under section 95(4) applies, the referendum period shall be such period (not exceeding six months) as may be specified in the order.
	(5) If (apart from this subsection) the referendum period in a case within subsection (4) would end after the date of the poll, it shall instead end on that date.
Date of poll.	97. - (1) Where the date of the poll in the case of any referendum falls to be fixed under any provision made by or under any Act, the date so fixed shall not be earlier than 28 days after the end of the period of 14 days mentioned in section 102(3).
	(2) If an order under section 102(6) applies to the referendum, subsection (1) shall be read as referring to the period which by virtue of the order is to apply instead of that period of 14 days.
	Permitted participants
Permitted participants.	98. - (1) In this Part "permitted participant", in relation to a particular referendum to which this Part applies, means-
	(a) a registered party by whom a declaration has been made under section 99 in relation to the referendum; or
	(b) an individual, company or unincorporated association-
	(i) by whom a notification has been given under section 99 in relation to the referendum, and
	(ii) in the case of whom any other prescribed requirements are satisfied;
	and for this purpose "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State after consulting the Commission.
	(2) In this Part "responsible person" means-
	(a) if the permitted participant is a registered party, the treasurer of the party;
	(b) if the permitted participant is an individual, that individual; and
	(c) if the permitted participant is a company or an unincorporated association, the person or officer for the time being named under section 99(4)(b)(iv) or (as the case may be) (c)(iii).
Declarations and notifications for purposes of section 98.	99. - (1) For the purposes of section 98(1) a registered party makes a declaration to the Commission under this section if the party makes a declaration to the Commission which identifies-
	(a) the referendum to which it relates, and
	(b) the outcome or outcomes for which the party proposes to campaign.
	(2) A declaration under this section must be signed by the responsible officers of the party (within the meaning of section 57).
	(3) For the purposes of section 98(1) an individual, company or unincorporated association gives a notification to the Commission under this section if he or it gives the Commission a notification which identifies-
	(a) the referendum to which it relates, and
	(b) the outcome or outcomes for which the giver of the notification proposes to campaign.
	(4) A notification under this section must-
	(a) if given by an individual, state-
	(i) his full name, and
	(ii) his home address in the United Kingdom,
	and be signed by him;
	(b) if given by a company, state-
	(i) the company's registered name,
	(ii) the address of its registered office,
	(iii) the number with which it is registered, and
	(iv) the name of the person or officer who will be responsible for compliance on the part of the company with the provisions of Chapter II,
	and be signed by the company secretary;
	(c) if given by an unincorporated association, state-
	(i) the name of the association,
	(ii) the address of an office of the association in the United Kingdom, and
	(iii) the name of the person or officer who will be responsible for compliance on the part of the association with the provisions of Chapter II,
	and be signed by the person who acts as secretary to the association.
	(5) In this section "outcome", in relation to a referendum, means the outcome implied by a particular answer to any question asked in the referendum.
Register of declarations and notifications for purposes of section 98.	100. - (1) The Commission shall maintain a register of-
	(a) all declarations made to them under section 99; and
	(b) all notifications given to them under that section.
	(2) The register shall be maintained by the Commission in such form as they may determine and shall contain, in the case of each such declaration or notification, all of the information supplied to the Commission in connection with it in pursuance of section 99.
	(3) The information mentioned in subsection (2) does not include, in the case of any notification given by an individual, the individual's address.
	(4) Where any declaration or notification is made or given to the Commission under section 99, they shall cause the information mentioned in subsection (2) to be entered in the register as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Prepared 21 December 1999