Part 7 - Miscellaneous.The 1983 Act
469.Paragraphs 111 and 112 respectively make amendments to sections 73 (payment of expenses through election agent) and 74A (expenses incurred otherwise than for election purposes) of the 1983 Act consequential upon the insertion of new section 90ZA (meaning of election expenses) by section 27.
470.Paragraph 113 amends section 75 of the 1983 Act (prohibition of expenses not authorised by election agent) consequential upon amendments made to the 1983 Act by section 41 concerning the control of documents after parliamentary elections. It inserts new provisions into section 75 to provide for third party election expenses returns under section 75 to be retained after parliamentary elections by the relevant registration officer, or in Northern Ireland, the Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland.
471.Paragraphs 114 and 115 amend sections 81 (return as to election expenses) and 89 (inspection of returns and declarations) of the 1983 Act consequential upon the amendments made to section 81 by section 26.
472.Paragraphs 116 to 119 respectively make amendments to sections 90 (election expenses at elections where election agent not required), 90C (property, goods services, etc. provided free of charge or at a discount), 90D (modifications of sections 90A to 90C in relation to election of members of the London Assembly) and 118 (interpretation of Part 2) of the 1983 Act. The amendments are consequential upon the insertion of new section 90ZA by section 27.
473.Paragraph 127 amends section 197(3) of the 1983 Act (candidate’s expenses: ward, and liverymen in common hall, elections). Currently, under subsection (3), orders varying the maximum candidates’ expenditure limits for the City of London elections, specified in section 197(1) and (2), are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. Orders made under section 197(3) will now be subject to the negative resolution procedure.
474.Paragraphs 129 to 131 are minor amendments to the Parliamentary Elections Rules in Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act consequential on the amendments made in sections 19 and 49 to the rules relating to the use of descriptions by candidates.
475.Paragraph 132 amends rule 36 (challenge of voter) consequential upon the amendments made to sections 24 and 24A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
The 2000 Act
476.Paragraph 139 amends section 3 of the 2000 Act and will exclude those people who have made loans to political parties from being eligible to be Electoral Commissioners for ten years. This mirrors the situation that applies to donations.
477.Paragraph 140 adds Part 4A (regulation of loans and related transactions) to the responsibilities of the treasurer of a registered party through an amendment to section 24(4)(a), and paragraph 141 does the same to the responsibilities of the treasurer of an accounting unit through an amendment to section 27(2)(a)).
478.Paragraph 142 amends section 29 of the 2000 Act, which concerns the registration of party emblems by the Electoral Commission with notification, by inserting new paragraph (ca). The amendment has a similar effect to that made to section 28 of the 2000 Act (Registration of parties) by section 48 in that it prevents the registration of a party emblem that may mislead an elector as to the effect of his vote or adversely affect an elector’s understanding of any directions given on the ballot paper or elsewhere which are provided for his guidance in voting.
479.Paragraph 143 amends section 34(3) of the 2000 Act (Registration of minor parties) to allow minor parties a period of seven months, rather than the current four months within which to provide the Electoral Commission confirmation that the party’s particulars in the register are correct. The period continues to commence one month before the anniversary of the party’s inclusion on the register, but now ends six months after that anniversary.
480.Paragraphs 144 and 146 amend provisions of the donations regime (in section 50 (definition of donations for the purposes of Part 4) and section 53(4) (value of donations)) to take account that loans otherwise than on commercial terms will no longer fall to be considered as donations, but instead will fall within the regulated transactions regime.
481.Paragraphs 145, 149 and 155 make amendments to sections 52 (payments, services etc. not to be regarded as donations). The amendments are consequential upon the repeal of section 68 of the 2000 Act by section 57.
482.Paragraph 147 amends section 55(2) of the 2000 Act (payments from public funds to be treated as donations received from a permissible donor). The amendment is consequential upon the amendment to section 52 (payments, services etc. not to be regarded as donations) made by section 55 which requires Policy Development Grants to be reported as a donation to the Electoral Commission.
483.Paragraphs 148 and 153 amend section 62 of the 2000 Act (quarterly donation reports) and Schedule 6 to the 2000 Act respectively, to provide a requirement to report a combination of regulated transactions and donations (collectively, “relevant benefits”) which, taken together, exceed the relevant reporting threshold. See the discussion of section 61 (regulation of loans etc) above (in particular, that to the new section 71M (quarterly reports of regulated transactions) of the 2000 Act).
484.Paragraphs 150 to 152 make amendments to section 146 (supervisory powers of Commission), section 148 (general offences) and Schedule 1 to the 2000 Act, in consequence of the new regime for the regulation of loans. Paragraph 156 makes such a consequential amendment to section 12 of the European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003.
485.Paragraph 154 makes amendments to Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act (donations to individuals and members associations by donors) consequential on the regulation of loans to individuals and members associations in Part 6 of Schedule 1 to this Act.
