Part VI

Controls relating to third party national election campaigns
Chapter II

Financial controls

Returns

Statement of accounts
96A
1
Where—
a
a return falls to be prepared under section 96 in respect of controlled expenditure incurred by or on behalf of a recognised third party during a regulated period, and
b
the period is one in relation to which any limit is imposed by paragraph 3, 9, 10 or 11 of Schedule 10 (periods involving parliamentary general elections),
the responsible person must, subject to subsections (8) and (9), also prepare a statement of accounts in respect of the regulated period.
2
A statement of accounts under this section must include—
a
a statement of the income and expenditure of the third party for the regulated period, and
b
a statement of its assets and liabilities at the end of that period.
3
A statement of accounts under this section must comply with such requirements as to the form and contents of the statement as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Commission.
4
Regulations under subsection (3) may in particular—
a
require any statement of accounts to be prepared in accordance with such methods and principles as are specified or referred to in the regulations;
b
specify information which is to be provided by way of notes to the accounts.
5
Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 22(7) of Schedule 1 (power to make different provision for different cases), regulations under subsection (3) may impose different requirements according to which of the following bands the gross income or total expenditure of a third party falls within—
a
not exceeding £25,000;
b
exceeding £25,000 but not £100,000;
c
exceeding £100,000 but not £250,000;
d
exceeding £250,000.
6
The Secretary of State may by order amend subsection (5) by varying the number of bands set out in it.
7
The Secretary of State may not make an order under subsection (6) except to give effect to a recommendation of the Commission.
8
This section does not apply if the third party is an individual.
9
This section does not apply to a third party in relation to a regulated period if the Commission are satisfied—
a
that a statement or statements prepared or to be prepared by the third party under any enactment contains or will contain the information required by subsection (2) or equivalent information, and
b
that the Commission are, or will be, able to inspect that statement or those statements.
10
Equivalent information is—
a
a statement or statements of the income and expenditure for a period or periods other than the regulated period, or
b
a statement or statements of assets and liabilities at a date or dates other than the end of that period,
but which in the Commission's opinion gives a sufficient indication of the third party's accounts for, or at the end of, the regulated period.
11
Where section 96(7) (lapse of notification) applies to the preparation of a return—
a
the reference to the responsible person in subsection (1) of this section is to be read as a reference to the person described in section 96(7)(b), and
b
for the purposes of, or in connection with, the discharge of obligations of the responsible person under sections 98 and 99A in relation to a statement of accounts under this section, references to the responsible person are to be read as references to that person.
12
In this section and section 97 “
gross income
” means gross recorded income from all sources.
S. 96A inserted (30.1.2014) by Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (c. 4), ss. 35(3), 45(3)(b) (with s. 46(1)(2))