06193.21-25

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

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(2)
The reports prepared under subsection (1) for any year must, in the

case of each authorised participant who enters into or is party to a

regulated transaction with the party in that year, comply with—

(a)
the following provisions of this section so far as they require

any such transaction to be recorded in such a report;

(b)
section 71N so far as it requires any changes in relation to

any such transaction to be so recorded.

(3)
In this section—

“transaction report” means a report prepared under

subsection (1);

“reporting period”, in relation to such a report, means the

period mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of that

subsection to which the report relates;

“relevant transaction”, in relation to an authorised participant

and a year, means a regulated transaction entered into by

the participant and the registered party in that year;

“relevant benefit”, in relation to any person and any year,

means—

(a)
a relevant donation within the meaning of section

62(3) accepted by the party from that person as a

donor, or

(b)
a relevant transaction entered into by the party and

that person as a participant,

and a relevant benefit accrues when it is accepted (if it is a

donation) or entered into (if it is a transaction).

(4)
Where no previous relevant benefit or benefits has or have been

required to be recorded under this subsection or section 62(4), a

relevant transaction must be recorded—

(a)
if the value of the transaction is more than £5,000, or

(b)
if the aggregate amount of it and any other relevant benefit

or benefits is more than £5,000.

(5)
A transaction to which subsection (4) applies must—

(a)
if it falls within paragraph (a) of that subsection, be recorded

in the transaction report for the reporting period in which

the transaction is entered into, or

(b)
if it falls within paragraph (b) of that subsection, be

recorded (together with any other relevant transaction or

transactions included in the aggregate amount mentioned

in that paragraph) in the transaction report for the reporting

period in which the benefit which causes that aggregate to

be more than £5,000 accrues.

(6)
Where any previous relevant benefit or benefits has or have been

required to be recorded under subsection (4) or section 62(4), a

relevant transaction must be recorded at the point when a relevant

transaction falling within subsection (7) has been entered into—

(a)
since the benefit or benefits required to be recorded under

that provision, or

(b)
if any relevant benefit or benefits has or have previously

been required to be recorded under this subsection or

section 62(6), since the benefit or benefits last required to be

so recorded.

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(7)
A relevant transaction falls within this subsection—

(a)
if the value of the transaction is more than £1,000, or

(b)
if, when it is added to any other relevant benefit or benefits

accruing since the time mentioned in subsection (6)(a) or (b),

the aggregate amount of the benefits is more than £1,000.

(8)
A transaction to which subsection (6) applies on any occasion

must—

(a)
if it is the only benefit required to be recorded on that

occasion, be recorded in the transaction report for the

reporting period in which it is entered into, or

(b)
in any other case be recorded (together with any other

relevant transaction or transactions included in the

aggregate amount mentioned in subsection (7)) in the

transaction report for the reporting period in which the

benefit which causes that aggregate amount to be more than

£1,000 accrues.

(9)
A transaction report must also record any regulated transaction

which is entered into by the party and a person who is not an

authorised participant and is dealt with during the reporting period

in accordance with section 71I or 71J.

(10)
If during any reporting period no transactions have been entered

into by the party which, by virtue of the preceding provisions of this

section, are required to be recorded in the transaction report for that

period, the report must contain a statement to that effect.

(11)
Where a registered party is a party with accounting units,

subsections (2) to (10) apply separately in relation to the central

organisation of the party and each of its accounting units—

(a)
as if any reference to the party were a reference to the central

organisation or (as the case may be) to such an accounting

unit; but

(b)
with the substitution, in relation to such an accounting unit,

of “£1,000” for “£5,000” in each place where it occurs in

subsections (4) and (5).

(12)
However, for the purposes of subsections (2) to (9) in their

application to the central organisation and any year by virtue of

subsection (10), any transaction—

(a)
which is entered into by an authorised participant and any

of the accounting units during that year, but

(b)
which is not required to be recorded under subsection (4) or

(6) (as they apply by virtue of subsection (11)) as a

transaction entered into by the accounting unit,


must be treated as a transaction entered into by the authorised

participant and the central organisation.

(13)
Schedule 6A has effect with respect to the information to be given

in transaction reports.

71N
Changes to be recorded in quarterly reports

(1)
If during any reporting period, in the case of any recorded

transaction—

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(a)
another authorised participant becomes party to the

transaction (whether in place of or in addition to any

existing participant),

(b)
there is any change in the details given in relation to the

transaction in pursuance of paragraph 5, 6 or 7 of Schedule

6A, or

(c)
the transaction comes to an end,


the change must be recorded in the transaction report for that

period.

(2)
For the purposes of subsection (1)(c), a loan comes to an end if—

(a)
the whole debt (or all the remaining debt) is repaid;

(b)
the creditor releases the whole debt (or all the remaining

debt);


and in such a case the transaction report must state how the loan

has come to an end.

(3)
A transaction report must also record any change by which a

person who is not an authorised participant becomes party to the

transaction (whether in place of or in addition to any existing

participant) and in consequence of which the transaction is dealt

with in accordance with section 71I or 71J.

(4)
If during any reporting period there have been no changes (as

mentioned in subsection (1) or (3)) to any recorded transaction, the

report must contain a statement to that effect.

(5)
A recorded transaction, in relation to a reporting period, is a

regulated transaction which is or has been recorded in a transaction

report for that or a previous reporting period.

(6)
Where a registered party is a party with accounting units,

subsections (1) to (5) apply separately in relation to the central

organisation of the party and each of its accounting units; and the

reference in subsection (5) to a transaction report for a previous

reporting period is a reference to a report prepared in relation the

central organisation or accounting unit, as the case may be.

(7)
In this section, “reporting period” and “transaction report” have the

meanings given in section 71M.

71O
Existing transactions

(1)
This section applies in relation to the first report prepared under

section 71M(1) by the treasurer of a party which, at the date on

which that section comes into force, is a registered party.

(2)
Sections 71M and 71N have effect, in the case of a person (whether

or not an authorised participant) who is a party to an existing

transaction, as if—

(a)
that transaction had been entered into in the reporting

period to which the report relates;

(b)
any change (as mentioned in section 71N(1) or (3)) to the

transaction had occurred during that period;

(c)
references in section 71M to a relevant benefit did not

include references to a relevant donation.

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(3)
An existing transaction is a regulated transaction which, at the date

on which section 71M comes into force, has not come to an end for

the purposes of section 71N(1)(c).

71P
Exemption from requirement to prepare quarterly reports

(1)
This section applies if each of four consecutive transaction reports

prepared by the treasurer of a registered party in pursuance of

subsection (1) of section 71M contains—

(a)
in the case of a party without accounting units, a statement

under subsection (9) of that section and a statement under

subsection (4) of section 71N, or

(b)
in the case of a party with accounting units, statements

under each of those subsections in relation to the central

organisation of the party and each of its accounting units.

(2)
The treasurer is not required to prepare any further transaction

reports in pursuance of subsection (1) of section 71M until—

(a)
a recordable transaction is entered into by the registered

party, or

(b)
a recordable change is made to a recorded transaction.

(3)
A recordable transaction is a transaction which is required to be

recorded by virtue of any of subsections (4) to (8) of section 71M

(including those subsections as applied by subsection (10) of that

section).

(4)
A recordable change is a change which is required to be recorded

by virtue of subsection (1) of section 71N (including that subsection

as applied by subsection (6) of that section).

(5)
If a recordable transaction is entered into or a recordable change is

made, nothing in this section affects the operation of section 71M or

71N in relation to—

(a)
the reporting period in which the recordable transaction is

entered into or the recordable change is made, or

(b)
any subsequent reporting period which falls before the time

(if any) when this section again applies in relation to the

party.

(6)
In this section—

“transaction report” and “reporting period” have the same

meaning as in section 71M;

“recorded transaction” has the same meaning as in section

71N.

71Q
Weekly transaction reports during general election periods

(1)
Subject to section 71R, the treasurer of a registered party must, in

the case of any general election period, prepare a report under this

subsection in respect of each of the following periods—

(a)
the period of seven days beginning with the first day of the

general election period,

(b)
each succeeding period of seven days falling within the

general election period, and

(c)
any final period of less than seven days falling within that

period.

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(2)
In this section—

“weekly report” means a report prepared under subsection (1);

“reporting period”, in relation to such a report, means the

period mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of that

subsection to which the report relates.

(3)
The weekly report for any reporting period must record each

regulated transaction which has a value of more than £5,000 entered

into during that period—

(a)
by the party (if it is not a party with accounting units), or

(b)
by the central organisation of the party (if it is a party with

accounting units).

(4)
If during any reporting period no transactions falling within

subsection (3) have been entered into as mentioned in that

subsection, the weekly report for that period must contain a

statement to that effect.

(5)
Schedule 6A has effect with respect to the information to be given

in weekly reports.

(6)
The weekly report for any reporting period must also record any

change (as mentioned in section 71N(1) or (3)) during that period to

a regulated transaction recorded—

(a)
by the party (if it is not a party with accounting units), or

(b)
by the central organisation of the party (if it is a party with

accounting units).

(7)
For the purposes of subsection (6), a transaction is recorded by a

party or the central organisation of a party if it is or has been

recorded in—

(a)
a transaction report prepared under section 71M(1), or

(b)
a weekly report prepared for that or a previous reporting

period falling within the general election period.

(8)
If during any reporting period there have been no changes falling

within subsection (6), the weekly report for that period must

contain a statement to that effect.

(9)
In this section and section 71R “general election period” has the

meaning given in section 63.

71R
Exemptions from section 71Q

(1)
Section 71Q(1) does not apply in relation to a registered party in

respect of a general election period if the party has made an

exemption declaration under section 64 which covers the general

election in question.

(2)
In its application (in accordance with subsection (1)) in relation to

section 71Q, section 64 is to be read subject to the following

modifications—

(a)
the reference in subsection (5) to section 63 is to be read as a

reference to section 71Q;

(b)
subsection (6) is omitted.