House of Commons Amendments

House of Commons

Session 2007 - 08
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Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
98

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

      (5)
In paragraph 2 of Schedule 6A to the 2000 Act (details to be given in

transaction reports), after paragraph (b) of sub-paragraph (10), there is

inserted—

“(c)
the name and addresses of all the members of and donors to

the association.”.

      (6)
In paragraph 2A of Schedule 6A to the 2000 Act (details to be given in

transaction reports), after paragraph (b) of sub-paragraph (11), there is

inserted—

“(ba)
the name and addresses of all the members of and donors to

the association;”’.

Mr Fabian Hamilton

Mr Denis MacShane

8

Schedule  3,  page  34,  line  4,  at beginning insert—

  ‘(A1)
In paragraph 1 of Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act (prohibition on accepting

donations from impermissible donors), at the end of sub-paragraph (7)(c) there

is inserted “, or a compliance officer appointed by the holder of a relevant

elective office to act on his behalf.”’.

Mr Fabian Hamilton

Mr Denis MacShane

9

Schedule  3,  page  34,  line  4,  at beginning insert—

  ‘(A1)
In paragraph 1 of Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act (prohibition on accepting

donations from impermissible donors), at the end of sub-paragraph (8)(a) there

is inserted—

“(aa)
member of the House of Lords;”’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

121


Page  34,  line  1,  leave out Schedule 3.

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

18

Clause  10,  page  8,  line  42,  at end insert—

‘(4A)
No act or statement made before the commencement of this section shall be taken

into account in deciding whether a person has become a candidate.’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

104


Clause  10,  page  9,  line  2,  at end insert—

‘(6)
The date of commencement of this section shall be determined by affirmative

resolution and shall not be earlier than the end of a three month consultation

Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
99

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

period following the publication of the relevant guidelines by the Electoral

Commission.’.

New Clauses Relating to Political Donations and Expenditure

Limits on party expenditure

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
A registered political party that has contested 100 or more seats at a general

election may spend in total, including expenditure by any of its national, regional,

local or other organs, no more than £100 million on qualifying expenditure in any

period of 61 months following each general election.

(2)
A registered political party that has contested fewer than 100 seats at a general

election may spend in total, including expenditure by any of its national, regional,

local or other organs, no more than £152,250 multiplied by the number of seats

that it did contest, plus £2,500 multiplied by the number of additional seats it

fights in the following election for each month or part of a month between the

previous general election and the following general election.

(3)
If more than one general election occurs during the period of 61 months following

the previous general election, the Electoral Commission shall have power to

increase the sum referred to in subsection (1) by an amount it reasonably believes

to be proportionate.

(4)
“Qualifying expenditure” shall include expenditure, whether or not made to

promote a particular candidate at a particular election, on—

(a)
party political broadcasts;

expenses in respect of such broadcasts include agency fees, design costs

and other costs in connection with preparing or producing such

broadcasts;

(b)
advertising of any nature (whatever the medium used);

expenses in respect of such advertising include agency fees, design costs

and other costs in connection with preparing, producing, distributing or

otherwise disseminating such advertising or anything incorporating such

advertising and intended to be distributed for the purpose of

disseminating it;

(c)
unsolicited material addressed to electors (whether addressed to them by

name or intended for delivery to households within any particular area or

areas);

expenses in respect of such material include design costs and other costs

in connection with preparing, producing or distributing such material

(including the cost of postage);

(d)
any manifesto or other document setting out the party’s policies;

expenses in respect of such a document include design costs and other

costs in connection with preparing or producing or distributing or

otherwise disseminating any such document;

Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
100

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

(e)
market research or canvassing conducted for the purpose of ascertaining

polling intentions or for the purpose of increasing the support of that

party or reducing the support of other parties,

(f)
the provision of any services or facilities in connection with press

conferences or other dealings with the media,

(g)
transport (by any means) of persons to any place or places with a view to

obtaining publicity for the party, its policies, its representatives or its

views,

(h)
rallies and other events, including public meetings (but not annual or

other party conferences) organised so as to obtain publicity for the party,

its policies, its representatives or its views;

expenses in respect of such events include costs incurred in connection

with the attendance of persons at such events, the hire of premises for the

purposes of such events or the provision of goods, services or facilities at

them;

(i)
any expenditure by third parties on the matters referred to in (a) to (h) that

is reasonably believed by the Electoral Commission to be intended to

increase support for that party or to reduce support for other parties.

(5)
The following do not count as qualifying expenditure—

(a)
any expenses incurred in respect of unsolicited material addressed to

party members;

(b)
any expenses in respect of any property, services or facilities so far as

those expenses fall to be met out of public funds;

(c)
any expenses incurred in respect of the remuneration or allowances

payable to any member of the staff (whether permanent or otherwise) of

the party; or

(d)
any expenses incurred in respect of an individual by way of travelling

expenses (by any means of transport) or in providing for his

accommodation or other personal needs to the extent that the expenses

are paid by the individual from his own resources and are not reimbursed

to him.

(6)
For the avoidance of doubt, the following shall count as qualifying expenditure—

(a)
any expenses in respect of newsletters or similar publications issued by

or on behalf of the party with a view to giving electors in a particular

electoral area information about the opinions or activities of, or other

personal information relating to, their elected representatives or existing

or prospective candidates;

(b)
any expenditure paid out of the House of Commons Communications

Allowance.’.

Cap on donations

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In section 54 of the 2000 Act, after subsection (1) there is inserted—

Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
101

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

“(1A)
A donation received by a registered party from a permissible donor must

not be accepted by the party in so far as the amount of that donation and

of any other donations accepted by the party from that donor during the

previous 12 months exceeds £50,000.

(1B)
Subsection (1A) does not apply to donations to which subsections (1) and

(2) of section 55 apply.”.

(2)
In section 56 of the 2000 Act, after subsection (2) there is inserted—

“(2A)
If a registered party receives a donation which it is prohibited from

accepting by virtue of section 54(1A), subsection (2) applies to that

donation only in so far as the amount of that donation and of any other

donations accepted by the party from that donor during the previous 12

months exceeds £50,000.”.

(3)
In subsection 58(1)(a) of the 2000 Act, after “(b)”, there is inserted “or (1A)”’.

Local spending limits

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC9

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
No registered political party may spend more than 0.3 per cent. of its national

spending limit on qualifying expenditure in any individual parliamentary

constituency during the regulated period.

(2)
If a by-election is held in a constituency, the limit mentioned in subsection (1)

shall be increased by the relevant limit on election expenses for by-elections in

force at the time of the by-election.

(3)
In this section—

“national spending limit” means the amount applicable to that party

according to subsection (1) or (2) of section [Limits on party

expenditure];

“the regulated period” means the periods applicable to that party according

to subsection (1) or (2) of section [Limits on party expenditure];

“qualifying expenditure” has the same meaning as in section [Limits on

party expenditure], except that expenditure on the remuneration or

allowances of staff shall count as qualifying expenditure to the extent that

the staff are engaged in the activities described in section [Limits on party

expenditure] (4)(b), (c), (d) or (e) in respect of the relevant

constituency.’.

Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
102

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

Donations by companies controlled by impermissible donors

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC10

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
A donation from a company controlled by an impermissible donor shall itself

count as not permitted.

(2)
A company shall count as controlled by an impermissible donor when—

(a)
an impermissible donor, or any combination of impermissible donors,

owns 75 per cent. or more of the voting shares in the company; or

(b)
an impermissible donor acts as a shadow director of the company; or

(c)
a majority of the board of directors of the company are impermissible

donors.

(3)
“impermissible donor” means either—

(a)
a donor who is not a permitted donor under the 2000 Act; or

(b)
a company controlled by an impermissible donor.

(4)
“shadow director” has the same meaning as it has in section 251 of the Companies

Act 2006.’.

Treatment of contributions from trade union political funds

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC11

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The limit on donations established by section [Cap on donations] shall apply to

all expenditure out of trade union political funds unless all the conditions of this

section have been fulfilled with regard to the expenditure in question.

(2)
The conditions are that—

(a)
the expenditure consists entirely of money contributed directly to the

funds of a political party;

(b)
the expenditure consists entirely of an amount paid to a political party on

the basis of multiplying the number of members who are contributors to

the union’s political fund, or a proportion of those members (not

exceeding 100 per cent for any single party or any combination of

parties), by a certain sum;

(c)
the sum referred to in paragraph (b) is less than the limit set by section

[Cap on donations];

(d)
the consent has been obtained either of all the members who are

contributors to the fund, or, where the basis of the calulation of the sum

expended is a proportion of those members, of at least the relevant

proportion of the members, for the expenditure concerned.

(3)
A member of a union who contributes to the political fund shall be deemed to

have consented for the purposes of subsection (2) if all of the following

conditions have been satisfied—

Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
103

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

(a)
the member was afforded during the 12 months preceding the relevant

expenditure a reasonable opportunity to be exempted from contributing

to the political fund of the union;

(b)
the union has, during the 12 months preceding the relevant expenditure,

made reasonable efforts to acquaint all members who contribute to the

political fund with—

(i)
the nature of a political fund;

(ii)
the nature of expenditure made by the union out of the political

fund in the previous five years, including the identity of any

political parties to which payments have been made out of the

political fund;

(iii)
the right of members to be exempt from paying contributions to

the fund; and

(iv)
the nature of any expenditure out of the fund that the union

intends or reasonably expects to make in the following 12

months.

(4)
The Electoral Commission may issue guidelines and model communications

about—

(a)
the requirement mentioned in subsection (3)(a); and

(b)
the conditions mentioned in subsection (3)(b).

(5)
Compliance with guidelines or use of model communications issued under

subsection (4) shall be deemed to be compliant with the relevant aspects of this

section.

(6)
No more than one payment under subsection (1) may be made in any one calendar

year, but the payment may be calculated on an annual basis and paid in

instalments.’.

Cap on donations (No.2)

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC12

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In section 54 of the 2000 Act, after subsection (1) there is inserted—

“(1A)
A donation received by a registered party from a permissible donor must

not be accepted by the party in so far as the amount of that donation and

of any other donations accepted by the party from that donor during the

previous 12 months exceeds £10,000.

(1B)
Subsection (1A) does not apply to donations to which subsections (1) and

(2) of section 55 apply.”.

(2)
In section 56 of the 2000 Act, after subsection (2) there is inserted—

“(2A)
If a registered party receives a donation which it is prohibited from

accepting by virtue of section 54(1A), subsection (2) applies to that

donation only in so far as the amount of that donation and of any other

donations accepted by the party from that donor during the previous 12

months exceeds £10,000.”.

Notices of Amendments: 7th November 2008
104

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

(3)
In subsection 58(1)(a) of the 2000 Act, after “(b)”, there is inserted “or (1A)”’.

Spending limits: transitional arrangements

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NC13

To move the following Clause:—

‘Schedule [Spending limits: transitional arrangements] (which makes provision

about transitional arrangements for spending limits) has effect.’.

New Schedule relating to political donations and expenditure

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

NS1

To move the following Schedule:—

‘Spending limits: transitional arrangements

2
Notwithstanding sections [Limits on party expenditure] and [Local spending

limits], the Electoral Commission may set national and local spending limits

for the period between the time this Act comes into force and the next general

election.

3
In exercising its power under paragraph 1, the Electoral Commission must

have regard to—

(a)
the number of months since the last general election and the number

of months remaining before a general election must be held; and

(b)
the spending limits established in sections [Limits on party

expenditure] and [Local spending limits].

4
The Electoral Commission may set different limits for parties that fought 100

seats or more at the last general election and those that fought fewer than 100

seats at the last general election, but otherwise may not set different limits for

different parties.

5
In setting different limits for different parties under paragraph 3, the Electoral

Commission may take into account the number of seats fought at the last

general election by a party that fought fewer than 100 seats.

6
In exercising its power under paragraph 1, the Electoral Commission must use

the definitions of qualifying expenditure laid out in sections [Limits on party

expenditure] and [Local spending limits].’.