Moved by
Lord Wallace of Tankerness
39: After Clause 26, insert the following new Clause—
“Arrangements between third parties notified to the Electoral Commission
(1) Part 6 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (controls relating to third party national election campaigns) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 94 (limits on controlled expenditure by third parties)—
(a) after subsection (3) insert—
“(3A) For provision requiring certain controlled expenditure to be disregarded in determining for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) whether a limit is exceeded, see section 94A(5) (arrangements between third parties notified to the Commission).”;
(b) in subsection (4), for “such a case” substitute “the case mentioned in subsection (3)”;
(c) in subsection (5A)—
(i) after “Subsections (3) to (5)” insert “and section 94A”;
(ii) for “those subsections” substitute “those provisions”;
(d) in subsections (8) and (10), after “the purposes of this section” insert “, section 94A”;
(e) in subsection (11)(a), after “this section” insert “and section 94A”.
(3) After section 94 insert—
“94A Arrangements between third parties notified to the Commission
(1) A recognised third party (“a lead campaigner”) may, at any time before the end of a regulated period, send a notice to the Commission—
(a) stating that the lead campaigner is party to an arrangement of the kind mentioned in section 94(6), and
(b) identifying one or more third parties that—
(i) are parties to the arrangement, and
(ii) have agreed to be minor campaigners in relation to the arrangement.
(2) A notice under subsection (1)—
(a) may not identify a third party as a minor campaigner if the third party is a lead campaigner in relation to the same arrangement, and
(b) may not be sent by a recognised Gibraltar third party.
(3) On receipt of a notice under subsection (1) by the Commission, a third party identified in the notice becomes “a minor campaigner” in relation to the arrangement in question.
(4) Controlled expenditure that is incurred during the regulated period in a part of the United Kingdom by or on behalf of a minor campaigner in pursuance of the arrangement is to be treated for the purposes of section 96 (returns as to controlled expenditure) as having also been incurred during the period and in the part of the United Kingdom concerned by or on behalf of the lead campaigner.
(5) In determining for the purposes of section 94(3)(a) whether a limit is exceeded by a third party in relation to a regulated period, controlled expenditure incurred in a part of the United Kingdom is to be disregarded if conditions A to C are met in relation to the expenditure.
(6) Condition A is that the expenditure—
(a) is incurred in pursuance of an arrangement that has been notified to the Commission under subsection (1), and
(b) is, by virtue of section 94(6), treated for the purposes of section 94 and Schedule 10 as incurred by or on behalf of the third party.
(7) Condition B is that the third party is, at the time the expenditure is incurred, a minor campaigner in relation to the arrangement.
(8) Condition C is that the total of the controlled expenditure incurred during the regulated period in the part of the United Kingdom by or on behalf of the third party (disregarding any expenditure in relation to which conditions A and B are met) does not exceed the limit for that part mentioned in section 94(5).
(9) Section 94(6) applies for the purposes of subsection (8).””