|
S.C.G.
Amendment Paper as at
Tuesday 15th February 2000
STANDING COMMITTEE G
New Amendments handed in are marked thus *
POLITICAL PARTIES, ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUMS BILL
(Except Clauses 1 to 18, Clauses 95 to 120, Schedules 1 and 2 and Schedules 11 to 14)
NOTE
The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the Committee [18th January], as follows:—
Clauses 19 to 28, Schedule 3, Clauses 29 to 44, Schedule 4, Clauses 45 to 56, Schedule 5, Clauses 57 to 64, Schedule 6, Clause 65, Schedule 7, Clauses 66 to 72, Schedule 8, Clauses 73 to 87, Schedule 9, Clause 88, Schedule 10, Clauses 89 to 94, Clause 121, Schedule 15, Clauses 122 to 126, Schedule 16, Clause 127, Schedule 17, Clause 128, Schedule 18, Clauses 129 to 136, Schedule 19, Clauses 137 to 147, New Clauses, New Schedules, Schedules 20 and 21.
Mr Andrew Stunell
Mr Malcolm Bruce
110
Clause 130, page 83, line 4, at end add ', except for employees of approved international institutions, where for "20 years" there shall be substituted "the whole of their period of employment with an approved international institution".
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1) an approved international institution shall be any organisation set up pursuant to any treaty or convention of which the United Kingdom is for the time being a signatory.'.
Mr Martin Linton
34
Clause 130, page 83, line 4, at end add—
'(1A) Subsection (1) shall not apply to any person who, on the coming into force of this section, was registered as an overseas voter and who continues to register in each succeeding year.'
Mr Martin Linton
Mr Andrew Miller
129
Page 82, line 40, leave out Clause 130.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
130
Clause 131, page 83, line 14, at end add ', save with the consent of the Scottish Parliament'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
134
Clause 132, page 83, line 33, after 'may', insert 'by notice'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
135
Clause 134, page 86, line 10, after 'he', insert 'knowingly'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
131
Clause 137, page 88, line 18, leave out 'three' and insert 'two'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
132
Clause 139, page 89, line 30, leave out from 'who' to 'attempted' in line 31 and insert 'was ignorant of or'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
133
Clause 139, page 89, line 39, leave out from 'who' to 'attempted' in line 40 and insert 'was ignorant of or'.
Mr Andrew Stunell
Mr Malcolm Bruce
92
Clause 146, page 92, line 7, leave out from 'value"' to end of line 9 and insert 'is to be interpreted in accordance with the following provisions:
(A) the Electoral Commission shall prepare and publish for consultation as soon as reasonably practicable such definitions as it thinks fit, and those definitions shall have regard to the need for certainty of accounting for the use of
(B) citing conformity with the Electoral Commission's definitions (as amended by any consultation in accordance with subsection (A)) shall be sufficient evidence of market value for the purpose of this Act; and
(C) the operation of subsection (B) is without prejudice to any alternative market valuation that may be submitted to, and agreed by, the Electoral Commission in any particular case.'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
136
Clause 147, page 93, line 6, after '(7)', insert '(7A)'.
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
137
Clause 147, page 93, line 9, at end insert—
'(7A) The Secretary of State may by order amend the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 in accordance with the Northern Ireland Act 2000, to extend the provision of Part IX to Northern Ireland'.
NEW CLAUSES
Annual registration of overseas voters
Mr Martin Linton
Mr Andrew Miller
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'.—(1) The Representation of the People Act 1985 (as amended by the Representation of the People Act 2000) is amended in accordance with this section.
(2) In subsection (3) of section 1 (Extension of parliamentary franchise) leave out paragraph (c) and after paragraph (d) insert the words "and (dd) he makes a declaration under and in accordance with section 2 of this Act within five years of ceasing to be resident in the United Kingdom and he continues to register in each succeeding year"
(3) For subsection (4)(a) of section 1 (Extension of parliamentary franchise) substitute:
"(a) he makes a declaration under and in accordance with section 2 of this Act within five years of ceasing to be resident in the United Kingdom and he continues to register in each succeeding year,"
(4) In subsection (3) of section 2 (Registration of British citizens overseas) after paragraph (d) insert "and (e) that the declarant is not a citizen of a country other than the United Kingdom".'.
Annual registration for overseas voters: peers
Mr Martin Linton
Mr Andrew Miller
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'.—(1) The Representation of the People Act 1985 (as amended by the Representation of the People Act 2000) is amended in accordance with this section.
(2) In subsection (3) of section 3 (Extension of franchise for European Parliamentary elections) for paragraph (c) substitute
"(c) either that entry in the register was in force at any time falling within the period of 20 years ending immediately before the relevant date, or he makes a declaration under and in accordance with section 2 of this Act within five years of ceasing to be resident in the United Kingdom and he continues to register in each succeeding year,"
(3) In subsection (4) of section 3 (Extension of franchise for European Parliamentary elections) for paragraph (a) substitute
"(a) either he was last resident in the United Kingdom within the period of 20 years ending immediately before the relevant date, or he makes a declaration under and in accordance with section 2 of this Act within five years of ceasing to be resident in the United Kingdom and he continues to register in each succeeding year".'.
Extension of franchise for employees of international organisations
Mr Martin Linton
Mr Andrew Miller
NC3
To move the following Clause—
'.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 14 (Service qualification) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 is amended in accordance with this section.
(2) In paragraph (c) the words "or an international organisation of which the United Kingdom is a member" are inserted after the words "British Council".
(3) After paragraph (e) the words "(f) is a person under the age of 25 who is resident with a parent qualifying under any of paragraphs (a) to (e) above," are inserted.'.
Tax relief for donations to political parties
Mr Dominic Grieve
Mr Robert Walter
NC4
*To move the following Clause:—
'.—(1) The following shall be inserted after section 379 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (interpretation of sections 369 to 378)—
| "Relief for donations to political parties | 379AA.—(1) Tax relief shall be available to an individual (the donor) in accordance with this section on qualifying political donations made by him of up to £500 in any year of assessment.
(2) A donation is a qualifying political donation for the purposes of this section if it is made to an eligible political party and—
(a) it takes the form of the payment of a sum of money,
(b) it is not subject to a condition as to repayment,
(c) it is not conditional on or associated with, or part of an arrangement involving, the acquisition of property by the political party, otherwise than by way of gift, from the donor or a person connected with him, and
(d) the donor is resident in the United Kingdom at the time the donation is made.
(3) For the purposes of this section a political party is an eligible political party if, at the last general election preceding the donation in question—
(a) two members of that party were elected to the House of Commons, or
(b) one member of that party was elected to the House of Commons and not less than 150,000 votes were given to candidates who were members of that party.
(4) If an individual makes a qualifying donation he shall be entitled, on making the payment, to deduct and retain out of it a sum equal to basic rate tax thereon.
(5) Where a sum is deducted under subsection (4) above the sum deducted shall be treated as income tax paid by the person to whom the payment is made.
(6) Any person by whom a qualifying donation is received shall be entitled to recover from the Board, in accordance with regulations, an amount which by virtue of subsection (5) above is treated as income tax paid by him; and any amount so recovered shall be treated for the purposes of the Tax Acts in like manner as the qualifying political donation to which it relates.
(7) The following provisions of the Management Act, namely—
(a) section 29(1)(c) (excessive relief) as it has effect apart from section 29(2) to (10) of that Act,
(b) section 30 (tax repaid in error, etc) apart from subsection (1B),
(c) section 86 (interest), and
(d) section 95 (incorrect return or accounts),
shall apply in relation to an amount which is paid to any person by the Board as an amount recoverable in accordance with regulations made by virtue of subsection (6) above but to which that person is not entitled as if it were income tax which ought not to have been repaid and, where that amount was claimed by that person, as if it had been repaid as respects a chargeable period as a relief which was not due.
(8) In the application of section 86 of the Management Act by virtue of section (7) above in relation to sums due and payable by virtue of an assessment made for the whole or part of a year of assessment ('the relevant year of assessment') under section 29(1)(c) or 30 of that Act, as applied by that subsection, the relevant date—
(a) is 1st January in the relevant year of assessment in a case where the person falling within subsection (5) above has made a relevant interim claim; and
(b) in any other case is the later of the following dates, that is to say—
(i) 1st January in the relevant year of assessment; or
(ii) the date of the making of the payment by the Board which gives rise to the assessment.
(9) The Board may by regulations make provision—
(a) for the purposes of any provision of this section which relates to any matter or thing to be specified by or done in accordance with regulations;
(b) with respect to the furnishing of information by donors or recipients, including, in the case of recipients, the inspection of books, documents and other records on behalf of the Board; and
(c) generally for giving effect to this section.
(10) In this section—
'financial year' in relation to any person, means a financial year of that person for the purposes of the relevant regulations;
'interm claim' means an interim claim within the meaning of the relevant regulations;
'relevant interim claim' means, in relation to an assessment made for a period coterminous with, or falling wholly within, a person's financial year, an interim claim made for a period falling wholly or partly within that financial year; and
'the relevant regulations' means regulations made under subsection (9) above.
(11) Section 839 of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section to determine whether one person is connected with another".'.
|
|
