Political party donations and loans in Great Britain

You can only enter into a loan with certain permissible sources. Please see Who can you accept donations and loans from? for the full list of permissible sources. You must complete permissibility checks before you enter into a loan as entering into a loan with an impermissible source is a criminal offence. 

You must satisfy yourselves that the source is permissible each time a loan is made, even if you have made permissibility checks for past loans from the same source. You should also carry out regular checks throughout the term of the loan to make sure that the source is still permissible. This is because the source must remain permissible for the whole period of the loan. 

You should keep a record of all your permissibility checks to show that you have followed the rules.

If a source isn’t permissible or they become impermissible at any point during the loan period, the transaction is void under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). You must still repay a loan that is void and the Commission may apply to the courts to recover the money if it is not repaid.

If you have entered into an impermissible loan, or a loan becomes impermissible during the loan period, please read What do you do if you have a loan from an impermissible source? for further guidance on the actions you must take.