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| Schedule 3, page 34, line 4, at beginning insert— |
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| | ‘(A1) | In paragraph 1 of Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act (prohibition on accepting |
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| | donations from impermissible donors), at the end of sub-paragraph (8)(a) there |
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| | “(aa) | member of the House of Lords;”’. |
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| Schedule 3, page 39, line 11, leave out paragraph 10 and insert— |
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| | ‘10 | Omit Schedule 20 (penalties).’. |
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| New Clauses Relating to Political Donations and Expenditure |
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| | Limits on party expenditure |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | A registered political party that has contested 100 or more seats at a general |
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| | election may spend in total, including expenditure by any of its national, regional, |
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| | local or other organs, no more than £100 million on qualifying expenditure in any |
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| | period of 61 months following each general election. |
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| | (2) | A registered political party that has contested fewer than 100 seats at a general |
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| | election may spend in total, including expenditure by any of its national, regional, |
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| | local or other organs, no more than £152,250 multiplied by the number of seats |
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| | that it did contest, plus £2,500 multiplied by the number of additional seats it |
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| | fights in the following election for each month or part of a month between the |
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| | previous general election and the following general election. |
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| | (3) | If more than one general election occurs during the period of 61 months following |
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| | the previous general election, the Electoral Commission shall have power to |
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| | increase the sum referred to in subsection (1) by an amount it reasonably believes |
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| | (4) | “Qualifying expenditure” shall include expenditure, whether or not made to |
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| | promote a particular candidate at a particular election, on— |
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| | (a) | party political broadcasts;
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| | expenses in respect of such broadcasts include agency fees, design costs |
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| | and other costs in connection with preparing or producing such |
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| | (b) | advertising of any nature (whatever the medium used);
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| | expenses in respect of such advertising include agency fees, design costs |
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| | and other costs in connection with preparing, producing, distributing or |
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| | otherwise disseminating such advertising or anything incorporating such |
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| | advertising and intended to be distributed for the purpose of |
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| | (c) | unsolicited material addressed to electors (whether addressed to them by |
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| | name or intended for delivery to households within any particular area or |
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| | expenses in respect of such material include design costs and other costs |
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| | in connection with preparing, producing or distributing such material |
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| | (including the cost of postage); |
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| | (d) | any manifesto or other document setting out the party’s policies;
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| | expenses in respect of such a document include design costs and other |
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| | costs in connection with preparing or producing or distributing or |
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| | otherwise disseminating any such document; |
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| | (e) | market research or canvassing conducted for the purpose of ascertaining |
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| | polling intentions or for the purpose of increasing the support of that |
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| | party or reducing the support of other parties, |
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| | (f) | the provision of any services or facilities in connection with press |
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| | conferences or other dealings with the media, |
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| | (g) | transport (by any means) of persons to any place or places with a view to |
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| | obtaining publicity for the party, its policies, its representatives or its |
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| | (h) | rallies and other events, including public meetings (but not annual or |
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| | other party conferences) organised so as to obtain publicity for the party, |
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| | its policies, its representatives or its views;
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| | expenses in respect of such events include costs incurred in connection |
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| | with the attendance of persons at such events, the hire of premises for the |
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| | purposes of such events or the provision of goods, services or facilities at |
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| | (i) | any expenditure by third parties on the matters referred to in (a) to (h) that |
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| | is reasonably believed by the Electoral Commission to be intended to |
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| | increase support for that party or to reduce support for other parties. |
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| | (5) | The following do not count as qualifying expenditure— |
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| | (a) | any expenses incurred in respect of unsolicited material addressed to |
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| | (b) | any expenses in respect of any property, services or facilities so far as |
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| | those expenses fall to be met out of public funds; |
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| | (c) | any expenses incurred in respect of the remuneration or allowances |
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| | payable to any member of the staff (whether permanent or otherwise) of |
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| | (d) | any expenses incurred in respect of an individual by way of travelling |
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| | expenses (by any means of transport) or in providing for his |
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| | accommodation or other personal needs to the extent that the expenses |
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| | are paid by the individual from his own resources and are not reimbursed |
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| | (6) | For the avoidance of doubt, the following shall count as qualifying expenditure— |
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| | (a) | any expenses in respect of newsletters or similar publications issued by |
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| | or on behalf of the party with a view to giving electors in a particular |
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| | electoral area information about the opinions or activities of, or other |
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| | personal information relating to, their elected representatives or existing |
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| | or prospective candidates; |
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| | (b) | any expenditure paid out of the House of Commons Communications |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | In section 54 of the 2000 Act, after subsection (1) there is inserted— |
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| | “(1A) | A donation received by a registered party from a permissible donor must |
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| | not be accepted by the party in so far as the amount of that donation and |
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| | of any other donations accepted by the party from that donor during the |
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| | previous 12 months exceeds £50,000. |
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| | (1B) | Subsection (1A) does not apply to donations to which subsections (1) and |
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| | (2) of section 55 apply.”. |
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| | (2) | In section 56 of the 2000 Act, after subsection (2) there is inserted— |
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| | “(2A) | If a registered party receives a donation which it is prohibited from |
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| | accepting by virtue of section 54(1A), subsection (2) applies to that |
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| | donation only in so far as the amount of that donation and of any other |
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| | donations accepted by the party from that donor during the previous 12 |
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| | months exceeds £50,000.”. |
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| | (3) | In subsection 58(1)(a) of the 2000 Act, after “(b)”, there is inserted “or (1A)”’. |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | The Secretary of State shall appoint a committee to conduct a review of this Act. |
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| | (2) | He must seek to secure that at any time there are not fewer than seven members |
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| | (3) | A person may be a member of the committee only if he is a member of the Privy |
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| | (4) | The committee shall complete the review and send a report to the Secretary of |
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| | State not later than the end of two years beginning with the day on which this Act |
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| | (5) | The Secretary of State shall lay a copy of the report before Parliament as soon as |
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| | is reasonably practicable. |
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| | (6) | The Secretary of State may make payments to persons appointed as members of |
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| | Order of the House [20th OCTOBER 2008] as amended by order of |
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| | That the following provisions shall apply to the Political Parties and Elections Bill: |
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| | 1. | The Bill shall be committed to a Public Bill Committee. |
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| | Proceedings in Public Bill Committee |
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| | 2. | Proceedings in the Public Bill Committee shall (so far as not previously |
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| | concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Thursday 20th November 2008. |
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| | 3. | The Public Bill Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on |
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| | Consideration and Third Reading |
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| | 4. | Proceedings on consideration shall (so far as not previously concluded) be |
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| | brought to a conclusion one hour before the moment of interruption on the |
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| | day on which those proceedings are commenced. |
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| | 5. | Proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be |
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| | brought to a conclusion at the moment of interruption on that day. |
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| | 6. | Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to |
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| | proceedings on consideration and Third Reading. |
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| | 7. | Any other proceedings on the Bill (including any proceedings on |
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| | consideration of Lords Amendments or on any further messages from the |
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| | Lords) may be programmed. |
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