Following the UK Government's White Paper on party finance, the Political Parties and Elections Bill was introduced to the UK Parliament in July 2008 and received its second reading in the House of Commons on 20 October.
The Electoral Commission welcomes proposals in the Bill to provide us with wider investigative powers and a more flexible range of sanctions to be used when the rules on party and election finances are broken. Our priority will remain providing advice and guidance to help people follow the rules but the new suite of sanctions outlined in the Bill will greatly enhance the Commissions ability to act in a proportionate way to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements we regulate. They are set in a framework of procedural safeguards, including new rights of appeal.
However, we are concerned by proposals to change the composition of the Commission, in particular the introduction of four new Commissioners to be nominated by party leaders, and for the restriction on recent party political involvement to be reduced from ten to five years for the other Commissioners. We believe that the aim of injecting more recent practical political experience into the Commission can be achieved by relaxing the existing restriction on employment of staff, together with a strengthened Parliamentary Parties Panel, the statutory body established by the 2000 Act, whose function is to submit representations to the Commission on issues affecting political parties.
Our statutory responsibilities extend across the whole of the United Kingdom and we take seriously the need to understand and respond to the different political and legislative circumstances across the UK. The proposal that four new Commissioners should be appointed from the three main parties represented in Westminster, plus one from the other parties, is not compatible with maintaining the Commissions legitimacy as a UK-wide body.
For further information please contact Aileen Keyes, Public Affairs Manager on 020 7271 0628.
Read more about our response to the Political Parties and Elections Bill
The Electoral Commission welcomes proposals in the Bill to provide us with wider investigative powers and a more flexible range of sanctions to be used when the rules on party and election finances are broken. Our priority will remain providing advice and guidance to help people follow the rules but the new suite of sanctions outlined in the Bill will greatly enhance the Commissions ability to act in a proportionate way to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements we regulate. They are set in a framework of procedural safeguards, including new rights of appeal.
However, we are concerned by proposals to change the composition of the Commission, in particular the introduction of four new Commissioners to be nominated by party leaders, and for the restriction on recent party political involvement to be reduced from ten to five years for the other Commissioners. We believe that the aim of injecting more recent practical political experience into the Commission can be achieved by relaxing the existing restriction on employment of staff, together with a strengthened Parliamentary Parties Panel, the statutory body established by the 2000 Act, whose function is to submit representations to the Commission on issues affecting political parties.
Our statutory responsibilities extend across the whole of the United Kingdom and we take seriously the need to understand and respond to the different political and legislative circumstances across the UK. The proposal that four new Commissioners should be appointed from the three main parties represented in Westminster, plus one from the other parties, is not compatible with maintaining the Commissions legitimacy as a UK-wide body.
For further information please contact Aileen Keyes, Public Affairs Manager on 020 7271 0628.
Read more about our response to the Political Parties and Elections Bill
