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| |
| |
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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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| | (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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| | |
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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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| |
| |
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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 |
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| | 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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| 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 £10,000. |
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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 £10,000.”. |
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| |
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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:— |
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| | ‘Schedule [Spending limits: transitional arrangements] (which makes provision |
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| | about transitional arrangements for spending limits) has effect.’. |
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| |
| | Non-electors to be impermissible donors |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | For the purposes of the 2000 Act a person who is not qualified to vote at |
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| | parliamentary elections shall not count as a permissible donor. |
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| | (2) | A company controlled by a person who is not a permissible donor by virtue of |
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| | subsection (1) shall also not count as a permissible donor for the purposes of the |
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| | |
| | (3) | A company shall count as controlled by a person in the same circumstances as |
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| | those set out in section [Donations by companies controlled by impermissible |
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| | |
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| New Schedule relating to political donations and expenditure |
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| To move the following Schedule:— |
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| | ‘Spending limits: transitional arrangements |
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| | 2 | Notwithstanding sections [Limits on party expenditure] and [Local spending |
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| | limits], the Electoral Commission may set national and local spending limits |
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| | 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 |
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| | |
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| |
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| | (a) | the number of months since the last general election and the number |
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| | 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 |
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| | expenditure] and [Local spending limits]. |
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| | 4 | The Electoral Commission may set different limits for parties that fought 100 |
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| | seats or more at the last general election and those that fought fewer than 100 |
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| | seats at the last general election, but otherwise may not set different limits for |
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| | |
| | 5 | In setting different limits for different parties under paragraph 3, the Electoral |
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| | Commission may take into account the number of seats fought at the last |
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| | general election by a party that fought fewer than 100 seats. |
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| | 6 | In exercising its power under paragraph 1, the Electoral Commission must use |
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| | the definitions of qualifying expenditure laid out in sections [Limits on party |
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| | expenditure] and [Local spending limits].’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Schedule 4, page 40, line 29, at end insert— |
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| | | ‘In section 54 (permissible donors), in subsection (1)(b), for “that person” |
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| | there is substituted “the person offering the donation”.’. |
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| |
| | |
| Schedule 4, page 40, line 29, at end insert— |
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| | | ‘In section 55 (payments etc which are (or are not) to be treated as donations |
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| | by permissible donors), at the end of subsection (2) there is inserted— |
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| | | “But such a payment shall not be regarded as a donation for the |
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| | purposes of section 54A or paragraph 6A of Schedule 7.”’. |
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| |
| | |
| Schedule 4, page 40, line 29, at end insert— |
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| | | ‘In section 56 (acceptance or return of donations: general), in subsection (5)— |
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| | (a) | in paragraph (a), for “paragraph (a) or (b)” there is substituted |
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| | “paragraph (a), (aa) or (b)”; |
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| | (b) | in paragraph (b)(i), for “subsection (2)(a)” there is substituted |
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| | “subsection (2)(a) or (aa)”.’. |
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| |
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| Schedule 4, page 41, line 43, leave out from beginning to ‘sub-paragraph’ in line |
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| |
| | ‘(1) | Schedule 7 (control of donations to individuals and members associations) is |
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| | |
| | (2) | In sub-paragraph (1)(b) of paragraph 6 (prohibition on accepting donations |
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| | from impermissible donors), for “that person” there is substituted “the person |
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| Schedule 4, page 42, line 1, leave out from beginning to ‘sub-paragraph’ and |
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| |
| | ‘(1) | Schedule 11 (control of donations to recognised third parties) is amended as |
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| | |
| | (2) | In paragraph 4 (payments etc not to be regarded as donations), at the end there |
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| | |
| | “(3) | Any payment out of public funds shall not be regarded as a donation |
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| | for the purposes of paragraph 6A.” |
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| | |
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| | |
| Schedule 4, page 42, line 4, leave of from beginning to ‘sub-paragraph’ and |
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| |
| | ‘(1) | Schedule 15 (control of donations to permitted participants) is amended as |
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| | |
| | (2) | In paragraph 4 (payments etc not to be regarded as donations)— |
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| | (a) | sub-paragraph (1)(a) is omitted; |
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| | (b) | at the end there is inserted— |
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| | “(3) | Any payment out of public funds shall not be regarded as a |
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| | donation for the purposes of paragraph 6A. |
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| | (4) | For all other purposes of this Schedule, such a payment |
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| | shall not be regarded as a donation unless it is a grant |
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| | provided to a designated organisation by virtue of section |
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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,”.’. |
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| |
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| Schedule 5, page 42, line 16, column 2, at beginning insert ‘Section 13’. |
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| Schedule 5, page 42, leave out lines 25 and 26 and insert— |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | (b) | in paragraph 6(1), the word “or” at the end of |
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| | |
| Clause 16, page 11, line 22, at beginning insert— |
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| | ‘(1) | The provisions of sections [Limits on party expenditure] and [Local spending |
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| | limits] shall apply to the period before the next general election subject to |
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| | 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 |
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| | the period before the next general election before sections [Limits on party |
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| | expenditure] and [Local spending limits] come into force.’. |
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| |
| |
| | |
| Clause 18, page 11, line 37, at end add— |
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| | ‘( ) | The following provisions extend also to Gibraltar— |
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| | |
| | |
| | sections 5 to 7, paragraphs 4, 5, 6 and 16 of Schedule 4 and the entry in |
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| | Schedule 5 relating to Schedule 1 to the 2000 Act; |
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| | |
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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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|