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| |
| |
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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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| | |
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| |
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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) | No registered political party may spend more than 0.3 per cent. of its national |
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| | spending limit on qualifying expenditure in any individual parliamentary |
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| | constituency during the regulated period. |
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| |
| |
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| | (2) | If a by-election is held in a constituency, the limit mentioned in subsection (1) |
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| | shall be increased by the relevant limit on election expenses for by-elections in |
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| | force at the time of the by-election. |
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| | |
| | “national spending limit” means the amount applicable to that party |
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| | according to subsection (1) or (2) of section [Limits on party |
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| | |
| | “the regulated period” means the periods applicable to that party according |
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| | to subsection (1) or (2) of section [Limits on party expenditure]; |
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| | “qualifying expenditure” has the same meaning as in section [Limits on |
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| | party expenditure], except that expenditure on the remuneration or |
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| | allowances of staff shall count as qualifying expenditure to the extent that |
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| | the staff are engaged in the activities described in section [Limits on party |
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| | expenditure] (4)(b), (c), (d) or (e) in respect of the relevant |
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| | |
| |
| | Donations by companies controlled by impermissible donors |
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| |
| |
| | |
| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | A donation from a company controlled by an impermissible donor shall itself |
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| | |
| | (2) | A company shall count as controlled by an impermissible donor when— |
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| | (a) | an impermissible donor, or any combination of impermissible donors, |
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| | owns 75 per cent. or more of the voting shares in the company; or |
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| | (b) | an impermissible donor acts as a shadow director of the company; or |
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| | (c) | a majority of the board of directors of the company are impermissible |
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| | |
| | (3) | “impermissible donor” means either— |
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| | (a) | a donor who is not a permitted donor under the 2000 Act; or |
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| | (b) | a company controlled by an impermissible donor. |
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| | (4) | “shadow director” has the same meaning as it has in section 251 of the Companies |
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| | |
| |
| | Treatment of contributions from trade union political funds |
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| |
| |
| | |
| To move the following Clause:— |
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|
|
| |
| |
|
| | ‘(1) | The limit on donations established by section [Cap on donations] shall apply to |
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| | all expenditure out of trade union political funds unless all the conditions of this |
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| | section have been fulfilled with regard to the expenditure in question. |
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| | (2) | The conditions are that— |
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| | (a) | the expenditure consists entirely of money contributed directly to the |
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| | funds of a political party; |
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| | (b) | the expenditure consists entirely of an amount paid to a political party on |
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| | the basis of multiplying the number of members who are contributors to |
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| | the union’s political fund, or a proportion of those members (not |
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| | exceeding 100 per cent for any single party or any combination of |
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| | parties), by a certain sum; |
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| | (c) | the sum referred to in paragraph (b) is less than the limit set by section |
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| | |
| | (d) | the consent has been obtained either of all the members who are |
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| | contributors to the fund, or, where the basis of the calulation of the sum |
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| | expended is a proportion of those members, of at least the relevant |
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| | proportion of the members, for the expenditure concerned. |
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| | (3) | A member of a union who contributes to the political fund shall be deemed to |
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| | have consented for the purposes of subsection (2) if all of the following |
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| | conditions have been satisfied— |
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| | (a) | the member was afforded during the 12 months preceding the relevant |
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| | expenditure a reasonable opportunity to be exempted from contributing |
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| | to the political fund of the union; |
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| | (b) | the union has, during the 12 months preceding the relevant expenditure, |
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| | made reasonable efforts to acquaint all members who contribute to the |
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| | |
| | (i) | the nature of a political fund; |
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| | (ii) | the nature of expenditure made by the union out of the political |
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| | fund in the previous five years, including the identity of any |
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| | political parties to which payments have been made out of the |
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| | |
| | (iii) | the right of members to be exempt from paying contributions to |
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| | |
| | (iv) | the nature of any expenditure out of the fund that the union |
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| | intends or reasonably expects to make in the following 12 |
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| | |
| | (4) | The Electoral Commission may issue guidelines and model communications |
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| | |
| | (a) | the requirement mentioned in subsection (3)(a); and |
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| | (b) | the conditions mentioned in subsection (3)(b). |
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| | (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 |
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| | |
| | (6) | No more than one payment under subsection (1) may be made in any one calendar |
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| | year, but the payment may be calculated on an annual basis and paid in |
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| | |
| |
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| |
| |
|
| | |
| |
| |
| | |
| 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.”. |
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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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| |
| | Spending limits: transitional arrangements |
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| |
| |
| | |
| To move the following Clause:— |
|
| | ‘Schedule [Spending limits: transitional arrangements] (which makes provision |
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| | about transitional arrangements for spending limits) has effect.’. |
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| |
| New Schedule relating to political donations and expenditure |
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| |
| |
| | |
| To move the following Schedule:— |
|
| | ‘Spending limits: transitional arrangements |
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| | 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 |
|
| | |
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| |
| |
|
| | 3 | In exercising its power under paragraph 1, the Electoral Commission must |
|
| | |
| | (a) | the number of months since the last general election and the number |
|
| | of months remaining before a general election must be held; and |
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| | (b) | the spending limits established in sections [Limits on party |
|
| | expenditure] and [Local spending limits]. |
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| | 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 |
|
| | |
| | 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].’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Schedule 5, page 42, line 13, at end insert— |
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| | ‘In section 63(3)(b), the words “sheriff clerk,”.’. |
| | |
|
| |
| |
| | |
| Schedule 5, page 42, line 16, column 2, at beginning insert ‘Section 13’. |
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| |
| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 16, page 11, line 22, at beginning insert— |
|
| | ‘(1) | The provisions of sections [Limits on party expenditure] and [Local spending |
|
| | limits] shall apply to the period before the next general election subject to |
|
| | Schedule [Spending limits: transitional arrangements]. |
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| | (2) | The Electoral Commission is under a duty to announce national and local |
|
| | spending limits under Schedule [Spending limits: transitional arrangements] for |
|
| | the period before the next general election before sections [Limits on party |
|
| | expenditure] and [Local spending limits] come into force.’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 19, page 12, line 16, at end insert— |
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|
|
| |
| |
|
| | ‘( ) | section [Filling vacant European Parliament seats in Northern |
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| | |
| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 19, page 12, line 20, at end insert ‘and |
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| | (g) | section [Spending limits: transitional arrangements] and Schedule |
|
| | [Spending limits: transitional arrangements],’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 19, page 12, line 20, at end insert ‘and |
|
| | (g) | section [Cap on donations],’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 19, page 12, line 20, at end insert ‘and |
|
| | (g) | section [Donations by companies controlled by impermissible donors],’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 19, page 12, line 21, at end insert— |
|
| | ‘(5) | Subsection (1) does not apply to section [Local spending limits], which comes |
|
| | into force 14 days after the day on which this Act is passed.’. |
|
| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 19, page 12, line 21, at end insert— |
|
| | ‘(5) | Subsection (1) does not apply to section [Limits on party expenditure], which |
|
| | comes into force 14 days after the day on which this Act is passed.’. |
|
| |
| |
| | |
| |
| |
| |
| | |
| To move the following Clause:— |
|
| | ‘(1) | The Secretary of State shall appoint a committee to conduct a review of this Act. |
|
| | (2) | He must seek to secure that at any time there are not fewer than seven members |
|
| | |
|
|
| |
| |
|
| | (3) | A person may be a member of the committee only if he is a member of the Privy |
|
| | |
| | (4) | The committee shall complete the review and send a report to the Secretary of |
|
| | State not later than the end of two years beginning with the day on which this Act |
|
| | |
| | (5) | The Secretary of State shall lay a copy of the report before Parliament as soon as |
|
| | is reasonably practicable. |
|
| | (6) | The Secretary of State may make payments to persons appointed as members of |
|
| | |
| |
| | Removal of criminal sanctions from specified offences |
|
| |
| |
| |
| | |
| | |
| To move the following Clause:— |
|
| | ‘(1) | The 2000 Act is amended as follows. |
|
| | (2) | In section 47(1), for “is guilty of an offence” there is substituted “shall be liable |
|
| | to a fixed monetary penalty under Schedule 19B”. |
|
| | (3) | In section 65(3), for “commits an offence” there is substituted “shall be liable to |
|
| | a fixed monetary penalty under Schedule 19B”. |
|
| | (4) | In paragraph 12(1) of Schedule 7, for “is guilty of an offence” there is substituted |
|
| | “shall be liable to a fixed monetary penalty under Schedule 19B”. |
|
| | (5) | A fixed monetary penalty imposed in accordance with subsections (2), (3) and (4) |
|
| | |
| | (6) | In Schedule 20 (penalties) the following entries in the table, and the |
|
| | corresponding entries in column 2, are omitted— |
|
| | (a) | Section 47(1)(b) (failure to deliver proper statement of accounts), |
|
| | (b) | Section 65(3) (failure to deliver donation reports to Commission within |
|
| | |
| | (c) | paragraph 12(1) of Schedule 7 (failure to deliver donation report to |
|
| | Commission within time limit).’. |
|
| |
| | Disclosure of election candidate’s addresses |
|
| |
| | |
| To move the following Clause:— |
|
| | ‘(1) | In the 1983 Act, Schedule 1 (parliamentary elections rules) is amended as |
|
| | |
| | (2) | In paragraph 6, for sub-paragraph (2)(b) there is substituted— |
|
|