Once the assessment is complete it will be put, along with any relevant comments from our online publication, to the Commission’s internal Approval Board. This Board is made up of senior officers of the Commission. It is chaired by the Director of Regulation, who normally takes the final decision on your application. The Head of the Commission in Scotland takes decisions for applications concerning parties solely in Scotland.
Once we have made a decision, we will tell you whether your application has been successful or not. We will also publish our decision online and, if the application has been successful, update the register.
If your application, or part of your application, is refused you can submit a fresh application. You won’t have to pay a further application fee if you submit an application to us within one calendar month of being contacted with the refusal. You will only get one opportunity to submit a fresh application without a fee. Any further applications after that will require the non-refundable application fee.
What happens if we decide your application is not complete?
If your application is not complete the party cannot be registered.
What happens if your financial scheme or constitution do not meet the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requirements?
If your financial scheme or constitution do not meet the PPERA requirements the party cannot be registered.
What happens if we cannot register your party name?
If, in our opinion, your party name does not meet the statutory tests the party cannot be registered.
What happens if we cannot register your description or emblem?
Providing that the rest of your application meets the statutory tests, we will still register your party. But we will refuse the particular description or emblem that does not meet the requirements.