Introduction Schedule 1: Campaigning and financial controls
43. Schedule 1 supplements Part 7 of the 2000 Act in relation to the campaigning and financial controls for the referendum.
44. Paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 sets out that the referendum period, during which the full campaigning and financial controls in the Act and Part 7 of the 2000 Act will have effect, is to be set by the Minister through regulations subject to the affirmative procedure. Sub-paragraph (2) provides that that the referendum period must not be less than 10 weeks ending with the date of the referendum.
45. Paragraph 2 modifies section 105(1) of the 2000 Act to extend the list of those eligible to become "permitted participants" at the referendum, to include a body incorporated by Royal Charter, a Charitable Incorporated Association, a Scottish or Northern Irish Charitable Incorporated Association, a Scottish Partnership, an individual who is resident in Gibraltar or is registered in Gibraltar for the purposes of European Parliamentary elections, and the Gibraltar-based bodies eligible to donate to political parties in the run up to European Parliamentary elections (as specified by section 54(2A)(b)-(g) of the 2000 Act). Gibraltar established political parties which are not registered in the UK (and therefore do not fall within section 54(2A)(c)), including the Gibraltar Social Democrats, the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party and the Liberal Party of Gibraltar are eligible to become permitted participants by virtue of section 54(2A)(g) of the 2000 Act.
46. Paragraph 3 deals with the details that must be provided under section 106 of the 2000 Act by the new bodies eligible to become permitted participants by virtue of the modifications to section 105(1)(b). It also modifies section 106 to provide that any declarations or notifications under section 106 must be accompanied by a statement signed by the person who is the responsible person (under section 105(2)) confirming that he or she is willing to exercise the functions of a responsible person set out in the 2000 Act and the Act.
47. Paragraph 4 provides for additional information to be entered into the register maintained by the Electoral Commission under section 107 of the 2000 Act if a statement is given under section 106(6A).
48. Paragraph 5 is consequential on paragraph 3(3) of Schedule 1 and takes account of the new bodies eligible to become permitted participants in relation to the meaning of "responsible person" under section 105(2) of the 2000 Act.
49. Paragraph 6 makes provision to ensure that a person cannot be the "responsible person" for more than one permitted participant at the referendum.
50. Paragraph 7 provides that the Electoral Commission may reject a permitted participant notification given by an unincorporated association with a name that is, in the opinion of the Commission, obscene, offensive or criminal. Paragraph 8 provides that where an unincorporated association seeks to change its name on the register to one that is, in the opinion of the Electoral Commission, obscene, offensive or criminal the Commission does not have to enter this name on the register, or make public any documents bearing that name.
51. Paragraphs 9 and 10 enable the Electoral Commission to designate a lead campaigner for one side of the argument ("remain" or "leave") at the referendum without designating a lead campaigner for the other side. This would only be possible where, for a particular outcome, either there were no applications, or the Electoral Commission was not satisfied that there was an applicant who adequately represented those campaigning for that outcome.
52. Paragraph 11 provides that where only one campaigner is designated, that campaigner is not entitled to a grant from the Electoral Commission of up to £600,000 (under section 110 of the 2000 Act) or to make a referendum broadcast (under section 127 of the 2000 Act).
53. Paragraph 12 enables the start of the period for applications under section 109 of the 2000 Act for designation as a lead campaigner to be prescribed in regulations made by the Minister, subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
54. Paragraph 13 modifies section 110 of the 2000 Act regarding the payment of grants by the Electoral Commission to designated lead campaigners. The effect is that the Electoral Commission will be entitled to pay the grant in instalments, and may withhold instalments if it is satisfied that the designated organisation has breached a condition set by the Commission. Under the 2000 Act, the grant paid to each designated organisation must be of the same amount, but this need not be the case if the Commission has withheld any instalment from a designated organisation under this paragraph.
55. Paragraph 14 modifies Schedule 12 to the 2000 Act (assistance to designated organisations) to take account of the referendum also taking place in Gibraltar.
56. Paragraph 15 enables a permitted participant to appoint a referendum agent for any voting area. Paragraphs 16 and 17 impose requirements in relation to the appointment of referendum agents. These include a requirement for the responsible person for the permitted participant to notify the counting officer of the appointment before noon on the 16th working day before the date of the poll (paragraph 16(2)), and for the counting officer to give public notice of the appointment (paragraph 17).
57. Paragraph 18 provides that that the exclusion of expenses (on property, services or facilities) met out of public funds from the list of qualifying expenses for referendum purposes in Schedule 13 to the 2000 Act also applies to expenses met out of Gibraltar public funds.
58. Paragraph 19 provides that, for this referendum, the following are not "referendum expenses" for the purposes of the Act or the 2000 Act:
	expenses incurred in the publication of non-advertising material in a newspaper or periodical, in a broadcast by the BBC, S4C, the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation or in a programme included in a service from another licensed broadcaster;
	expenses in respect of, or in consequence of, translating materials from English to Welsh or Welsh to English;
	reasonable expenses incurred that are reasonably attributable to an individual's disability ("disability" has the same meaning as in the Equality Act 2010);
	expenses incurred in providing for the protection of persons or property at rallies or other public events.
59. Paragraph 20 ensures that referendum expenses incurred before the commencement of section 3 of the Act are treated in the same way as other expenses incurred before the beginning of the referendum period. This means that expenses incurred before commencement can be treated as incurred during the referendum period, and therefore count towards spending limits, if the property, services or facilities in question were made use of during the referendum period.
60. Paragraph 21 protects the rights of a creditor in a case where a contract or expense contravenes a provision of Part 7 of the 2000 Act but the creditor was unaware of this.
61. Paragraph 22 makes provision about the aggregation of expenses by persons "acting in concert" at the proposed referendum. Sub-paragraph (1) sets out the circumstances in which persons will be regarded as having acted in concert. Sub-paragraph (2) has the effect that campaigners do not have to account for expenditure by other participants in the common plan which have been incurred independently of the common plan. Sub-paragraphs (3) to (6) provide that where expenses are incurred by persons acting in concert, the total value of those expenses is to be regarded as having been incurred by each of the persons in question, and counted against each person's spending limit accordingly, except where a person incurs referendum expenses while acting in concert with a designated organisation. In this event those expenses are treated as incurred by the designated organisation only (unless the other person is not a permitted participant but exceeds the expenses threshold above which registration as a permitted participant is required).
62. Paragraph 23 modifies section 120 of the 2000 Act for the purposes of the referendum. It requires permitted participants to include in their referendum expenses returns declarations as to a) whether any expenses of another individual or body are to be treated as having been incurred by or on behalf of the permitted participant (and if so, the details of any such expenses); and b) whether any expenses of the permitted participant are to be treated as having been incurred by or on behalf of another individual or body (and if so, the details of any such expenses).
63. Paragraph 24 makes consequential modifications to section 115(7) of the 2000 Act to account for bank holidays and public holidays in Gibraltar in relation to making claims in respect of referendum expenses.
64. Paragraph 25 provides that the limits of referendum expenses incurred by permitted participants as set by paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 14 to the 2000 Act apply to this referendum and therefore apply to spending in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar. Sub-paragraph (2) modifies the spending limits in paragraph 1(2) for the purposes of the referendum to uprate the figures by inflation since 2000.
65. Paragraph 26 provides that registered political parties (that are not minor parties) which register as permitted participants are, during the referendum period, able to accept donations from the individuals and bodies that have been added to the list of permissible donors who may donate to other permitted participants by paragraph 31 of the Schedule., Such a party is also able to accept a bequest from an individual, where at any time within the period of 5 years ending with the date of the individualʹs death, they were on the electoral register for European Parliamentary elections in Gibraltar. This provision is necessary as registered political parties (that are not minor parties) are regulated separately under the 2000 Act and are therefore not subject to the donations controls on permitted participants under Schedule 15 to the 2000 Act.
66. Paragraph 27 sets out the information that must be provided by political parties (that are not minor parties) in relation to any reportable donations received from the categories of eligible donors that are not already covered by paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to the 2000 Act.
67. Paragraph 28 applies where a registered political party (other than a minor party) registers as a permitted participant and accepts donations from, or enters into transactions which are "regulated transactions" for the purposes of Part 4A of the 2000 Act with, certain individuals or bodies. These are the individuals or bodies from whom the party could not ordinarily accept donations, but can do so by virtue of other provisions in this Act.
68. In this event, paragraph 28 sets a cap (the "permitted maximum") on the total value of donations from, and regulated transactions with, these individuals and bodies that the party can accept or enter into in the referendum period. The "permitted maximum" is equivalent to the maximum amount of referendum expenses that the party may incur during the referendum period. If the permitted maximum is exceeded, any excess is treated as having been received from an impermissible donor and must therefore be repaid
69. Paragraph 29 ensures that Gibraltar political parties that are not registered under Part 2 of the 2000 Act may not make donations to permitted participants, except the designated lead campaigners. This brings the position of unregistered Gibraltar political parties into line with registered parties.
70. Paragraph 30 provides that any grant provided from Gibraltar public funds is not to be regarded as a donation to a permitted participant at the referendum. This is in line with the existing position for grants from UK public funds.
71. Paragraph 31 modifies paragraph 6 of Schedule 15 to the 2000 Act (which applies to donations to permitted participants who are not registered parties or are minor parties) to extend the list of permissible donors to include a body incorporated by Royal Charter, a Charitable Incorporated Association, a Scottish or Northern Irish Charitable Incorporated Association and a Scottish Partnership. It also includes individuals registered in Gibraltar for the purposes of European Parliamentary elections, and the Gibraltar-based bodies eligible to donate to political parties in the run up to European Parliamentary elections (as specified by section 54(2A)(b)-(g) of the 2000 Act). Schedule 15 to the 2000 Act is further modified to provide that donations to permitted participants in the form of bequests from individuals who were, at any time in the five years preceding their death, registered in the Gibraltar register are treated as donations from permissible donors.
72 Paragraph 32 is consequential to paragraph 31 of this Schedule and modifies paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 15 to the 2000 Act to take account of the extended list of permissible donors.
73. Paragraph 33 is consequential to paragraph 31 of this Schedule and has the effect that arrangements for facilitating the making of donations to permitted participants by individuals and bodies on the extended list of permissible donors are not unlawful.
74. Paragraph 34 establishes the details that must be provided under paragraph 10 of Schedule 15 to the 2000 Act (which deals with the reporting of donations after a referendum) with regards to donations received from the individuals and bodies on the extended list of permissible donors.
75. Paragraph 35 modifies the 2000 Act by treating new section 120A as having been inserted for the purposes of this referendum. New section 120A provides for circumstances where a permitted participant's expenses incurred during the referendum period do not exceed £10,000. In this event, the responsible person is not required to make a return under section 120 of the 2000 Act, but can, within 3 months of the end of the referendum period, make a declaration to the Electoral Commission that to the best of the person's knowledge and belief the total expenses incurred by or on behalf of the permitted participant during the referendum period do not exceed £10,000. Subsection (3) of new section 120A creates an offence of knowingly or recklessly making a false declaration and subsection (4) sets out the associated maximum penalties.
76. Paragraph 36 modifies the declaration required of a responsible person for a permitted participant (that is not a registered party or is a minor party) by section 123 of the 2000 Act in relation to relevant donations. The declaration is to include a statement that section 56(2) of the 2000 Act (which provides for the return of donations) was complied with in relation to donations from impermissible donors. Paragraph 36 further modifies section 123 to take account of the extended list of permissible donors provided for by paragraph 31 of Schedule 1.
77. Paragraph 37 modifies the 2000 Act by introducing a new section 124A which requires permitted participants who do not incur referendum expenses to submit a declaration of that fact to the Electoral Commission within three months of the end of the referendum period. The new section creates offences of failing to comply with its requirements, and of knowingly or recklessly making a false declaration, and provides for maximum penalties.
78. Paragraph 38 modifies section 125 of the 2000 Act to provide that the restrictions on the Government and publicly funded persons and bodies publishing material in the 28 days ending with the poll also apply to the Government of Gibraltar, a Gibraltar government department and any other body funded wholly or mainly out of Gibraltar public funds.
79. Paragraph 39 sets out a system for the reporting of donations received by a permitted participant (which is either not a registered party or is a minor party) in the run up to the referendum ("pre-poll reporting"). It requires that reports are prepared by the responsible person and must include details of any donation received with a value of more than £7,500 that is for the purpose of meeting referendum expenses incurred by or on behalf of the permitted participant. The first reporting period begins on commencement of paragraph 39(2)(a) and ends on the seventh day of the referendum period. The report for that period must be delivered to the Electoral Commission within a further period of seven days. Further reports must be prepared and delivered to the Electoral Commission at the times and in respect of other periods to be set by the Minister in regulations made under the affirmative procedure. If no relevant donations of more than £7,500 were received during a reporting period, this information must also be included in the report. Sub-paragraphs (9) to (12) create offences of failing to comply with these provisions and set out the associated maximum penalties.
80. Paragraph 40 requires each report under paragraph 39 to be accompanied by a declaration, signed by the responsible person, confirming that the report is complete. Knowingly or recklessly making a false declaration, or the failure by a responsible person to make a declaration, is an offence, and the paragraph sets out the maximum penalties.
81. Paragraph 41 requires the Electoral Commission to make reports under paragraph 39 publicly available, for a period of two years beginning with the date any such report is received, as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt.
82. Paragraph 42 ensures that provisions in the 2000 Act (in section 149) about the inspection of registers and documents kept by the Electoral Commission apply to permitted participants' reports under paragraph 39 delivered to the Commission and available for public inspection under paragraph 41.
83. Paragraph 43 extends the controls in section 127 of the 2000 Act, in relation to referendum campaign broadcasts, to the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation.
84 Paragraph 44 establishes that certain other provisions in the 2000 Act, including provisions relating to functions of the Electoral Commission, offences, civil sanctions and legal proceedings, apply in relation to the requirements and offences in Schedule 1. Sub-paragraph (6) makes clear that Schedules 19B and 19C to the 2000 Act are not extended or applied to Gibraltar.
85. Paragraph 45 provides that that section 160 of the 2000 Act, which sets out a list of defined terms used in the 2000 Act, has effect for the purposes of the referendum with the addition of a definition of "Gibraltar public funds".