Moved by
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts
54A: After Clause 27, insert the following new Clause—
“Guidance by the Commission relating to third party controls
(1) PPERA is amended as follows.
(2) Omit Part 2 of Schedule 8A (controlled expenditure: qualifying expenses).
(3) After section 100 (public inspection of returns under section 96) insert—
“100A Guidance by the Commission about third parties
(1) The Commission must prepare, and may from time to time revise, a code of practice giving guidance as to the application of Part VI of this Act to third parties, including in particular, but not limited to—
(a) the kinds of expenses which do, or do not, fall within Part 1 of Schedule 8A, including what categories of person constitute the “public” for the purposes of paragraph 1(1), (2) and (5) of that Schedule,
(b) application of section 85(b) to third parties,
(c) the relationship between notional controlled expenditure under section 86 and regulation of donations to third parties under section 95 and Schedule 11, and
(d) what types of activities and communications between third parties constitute incurring expenditure in pursuance of a plan or other arrangement where the expenditure can reasonably be regarded as intended to achieve a common purpose under section 94.
(2) The Commission must consult the following on a draft of any guidance or revised guidance prepared in accordance with subsection (1)—
(a) the Speaker’s Committee,
(b) the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee of the House of Commons,
(c) the Scottish Ministers, so far as the draft relates to the Commission’s devolved Scottish functions,
(d) the Welsh ministers, so far as the draft relates to the Commission’s devolved Welsh functions, and
(e) a cross-section of persons and organisations representative of third parties within the meaning of section 85(8) of this Act, including civil society groups.
(3) As soon as the Commission has prepared a draft code under this section, it must submit it to the Secretary of State for approval.
(4) The Secretary of State may approve a draft code either without modification or with such modifications as the Secretary of State may determine.
(5) When the Secretary of State has approved a draft code, the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a copy of the draft either—
(a) in its original form, or
(b) in a form which incorporates any modifications determined under subsection (4).
(6) If the draft incorporates any such modifications, the Secretary of State must at the same time lay a statement of the reasons for making them.
(7) If, within the 40-day period, either House resolves not to approve the draft, the Secretary of State may take no further steps in relation to the draft code.
(8) If no such resolution is made within the 40-day period—
(a) the Secretary of State must issue the code in the form of the draft laid before Parliament, and
(b) the code must come into force on such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint, and the Commission must arrange for it to be published in such manner as they consider appropriate.
(9) Subsection (7) does not prevent a new draft code from being laid before Parliament.
(10) In this paragraph “40-day period”, in relation to a draft code, means—
(a) if the draft is laid before one House on a day later than the other, the period of 40 days beginning with the later of the two days, and
(b) in any other case, the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which the draft is laid, no account being taken of any period during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.
(11) In this paragraph references to a draft code include a draft revised code.
(12) The Commission must have regard to guidance issued under this section in exercising its functions.
(13) It is a defence for a person or third party charged with an offence under this Act to show that any guidance for the time being issued under this section was complied with in relation to Part VI of this Act.””
Member’s explanatory statement
This would expand the power for the Commission to produce a code of conduct on what types of expense will be treated as regulated expenditure by third party campaigners at Schedule 8A PPERA, so that it is (i) a duty rather than a discretionary power and (ii) widened to oblige the Commission to provide guidance on other complex areas of election law for third parties, such as the rules around joint spending, and what constitutes a member.