House of Commons Amendments

House of Commons

Session 2007 - 08
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
203

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

Mr Michael Wills

167

Schedule  3,  page  36,  leave out lines 40 to 42.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

194


Schedule  3,  page  36,  line  45,  at end insert—

‘(8)
The Commission shall prepare and publish guidance notes, which must be

attached to any declaration under paragraph 6A, and which set out in clear

English information necessary to properly complete such a declaration, which

will as a minimum include—

(e)
examples to assist in understanding how benefits are valued;

(f)
examples to assist in the completion of the declarations required by

paragraph 6A(3);

(g)
the penalties for non-compliance with time periods, and for knowingly or

recklessly making a false declaration;

(h)
the appropriate details of when time limits for the submission of

declarations commence and end.’.

Mr Michael Wills

168

Schedule  3,  page  37,  line  30,  leave out ‘£200’ and insert ‘£5,000’.

Nick Ainger

142

Schedule  3,  page  37,  line  30,  leave out ‘£200’ and insert ‘£1,000’.

Mr Michael Wills

169

Schedule  3,  page  37,  line  35,  leave out ‘£200’ and insert ‘£5,000’.

Nick Ainger

141

Schedule  3,  page  37,  line  35,  leave out ‘£200’ and insert ‘£1,000’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

195


Schedule  3,  page  37,  line  41,  leave out from first ‘the’ to ‘knowledge’ and insert

‘individual’s reasonable’.

Mr Michael Wills

170

Schedule  3,  page  38,  line  6,  leave out ‘£200’ and insert ‘£5,000’.

Nick Ainger

140

Schedule  3,  page  38,  line  6,  leave out ‘£200’ and insert ‘£1,000’.

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
204

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

196


Schedule  3,  page  38,  line  10,  after first ‘the’, insert ‘reasonable’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

197


Schedule  3,  page  38,  line  15,  after ‘person’s’, insert ‘reasonable’.

Mr Michael Wills

171

Schedule  3,  page  38,  leave out lines 26 to 28.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

198


Schedule  3,  page  38,  line  31,  at end insert—

‘(8)
The Commission shall prepare and publish guidance notes, which must be

attached to any declaration under paragraph 6A, and which set out in clear

English information necessary to properly complete such a declaration, which

will as a minimum include—

(i)
examples to assist in understanding how benefits are valued;

(j)
examples to assist in the completion of the declarations required by

paragraph 6A(3);

(k)
the penalties for non-compliance with time periods, and for knowingly or

recklessly making a false declaration;

(l)
the appropriate details of when time limits for the submission of

declarations commence and end.’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

121

Page  34,  line  1,  leave out Schedule 3.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

182


Clause  9,  page  8,  line  18,  leave out ‘all’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

183


Clause  9,  page  8,  line  21,  after first ‘the’, insert ‘party or its’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mrs Eleanor Laing

184


Clause  9,  page  8,  line  21,  after ‘treasurer’, insert ‘reasonably’.

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
205

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

David Howarth

Mr Alan Reid

152

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  22,  at end add—

‘(3B)
The defence established by subsection (3A) shall not apply where the donor was

not a permissible donor by virtue of section [Non-electors to be impermissible

donors].’.

Martin Linton

201


Clause  10,  page  8,  line  29,  leave out subsection 10(1)(b) insert—

‘(b)
for “after the date when he becomes a candidate at the election” there is

substituted “after the 50th month following the month of the previous

general election”’.

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

period following the publication of the relevant guidelines by the Electoral

Commission.’.

Martin Linton

202


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

‘(6)
In the 1983 Act section 76 (Limitation of election expenses) is amended as

follows.

(7)
In subsection 2(a)—

(a)
in paragraph (i), after “electors” there is inserted “in the period between

the end of the 50th month following the month of the previous general

election and the dissolution of Parliament, plus the same amount between

the date of the dissolution of Parliament and the date of the general

election”;

(b)
in paragraph (ii), after “electors” there is inserted “in the period between

the end of the 50th month following the month of the previous general

election and the dissolution of Parliament, plus the same amount between

the date of the dissolution of Parliament and the date of the general

election.”’.

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
206

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

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;

(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,

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
207

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

(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—

“(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.

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
208

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

(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.’.

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—

Public Bill Committee: 18th November 2008
209

Political Parties and Elections Bill, continued

(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—

(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;