Recall of MPs Act 2015

Inspection of returns and accompanying documents

9 (1) The petition officer must—

(a) as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving—

(i) a recall petition return,

(ii) a supplementary return, or

(iii) a declaration,

make the return or declaration available for public inspection at the officer’s office or other convenient place chosen by the officer;

(b) continue to make the return or declaration available for inspection at such a place for the period of 2 years beginning with the date on which the return is received;

(c) supply a copy of the return or declaration, or of any other document accompanying the return in accordance with this Schedule, to any person who—

(i) requests it within that period of 2 years, and

(ii) pays such fee as may be prescribed in regulations made by the Minister.

(2) Where sub-paragraph (1) applies in relation to a recall petition return that contains a statement mentioned in paragraph 3 or 4 that includes the home address of a donor who is an individual, the duties imposed by sub-paragraph (1) apply in relation to a copy of the statement that does not include the donor’s home address.

(3) The petition officer must, within 40 days of the end of the recall petition period—

(a) notify the responsible person in relation to each accredited campaigner of the relevant information, and

(b) publish the relevant information in such manner as the petition officer thinks fit.

(4) “The relevant information” means the place at which, and times at which, recall petition returns, supplementary returns (if any) and declarations are to be made available for public inspection under sub-paragraph (1).

(5) After the expiry of the 2 year period mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(b), the petition officer must—

(a) cause the recall petition return (or, as the case may be, the supplementary return), and any declaration or other document accompanying the return, to be destroyed, or

(b) if the responsible person in relation to the accredited campaigner in question so requests, cause the return and those documents (or any of them) to be returned to the responsible person.

(6) Regulations under this paragraph are subject to affirmative resolution procedure.

(7) References in this paragraph to a declaration are to a declaration under paragraph 2(3)(b), (c) or (d) or 5.