12 Feb 2008
The Electoral Commission announced today that the Scottish Labour Party’s Glasgow South accounting unit has agreed to forfeit a £950 impermissible donation.
Under Section 54(1) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), registered political parties must not accept a donation from a person who, at the time the donation was made, was an impermissible donor. Parties have 30 days from the date the donation was received to return the money to the donor.
The £950 donation was accepted by the party on 1 June 2007. The donor was not on the electoral register at the time the donation was made. The Commission has accepted that this was an oversight by the party and there was no intention to break the rules.
The party has agreed to forfeit the donation, and therefore legal action by the Commission is not necessary.
Peter Wardle, chief executive, Electoral Commission, said: "The law requires donees to have robust procedures in place to ensure compliance with the legislation, including the requirement to check donations come from a permissible source. We have recognised that the acceptance of this donation was an error and not deliberate attempt to evade the rules. The legislation has been in place for seven years now and it is not acceptable that the rules continue to be broken. We expect to see procedures tightened to ensure this does not happen again.”
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For further information please contact:
Press team on 020 7271 0704
Out of Hours 07789 920414
Textphone 18001 020 7271 0700
Email press@electoralcommission.org.uk
Notes to Editors
1. The Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act (PPERA) 2000 established the Electoral Commission as an independent body to regulate political party financing and provided the legal framework under which the Commission operates.
2. Section 54(2) of PPERA defines permissible donors to registered political parties as:
• an individual registered on a UK electoral register
• a UK registered political party
• a UK registered company
• a UK registered trade union
• a UK registered building society
• a UK registered limited liability partnership
• a UK registered friendly/building society
• a UK based unincorporated association
These requirements must be satisfied at the time the donation is made and the onus is on the party to check whether this is the case and return the money if necessary.
3. Under section 58 of PPERA, the Electoral Commission has the power to apply to the courts for an order to forfeit a sum equal to any impermissible donation a party has accepted and not returned within the statutory 30 days.
4. Any amount forfeited is paid into the Consolidated Fund. It is not retained by the Electoral Commission nor returned to the donor
