Commentary on Sections Schedule 1 — Amendments 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.