New donations and loans guidance for political parties: Sponsorship

Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), a donation is money, goods or services given to a party with a value of over £500.1

The types of donations regulated under the law are:

• gifts of money or other property (items, goods or services)2
• membership or affiliation payments3
• paying for expenses incurred directly or indirectly by the party4
• free or specially discounted use of items, goods, services or facilities5
• sponsorship of an event, publication, study or research6

Commercial and non-commercial terms

On commercial terms means where the item, goods or service is being provided at its market value.

Some donations are only regulated if they are provided to the party on non-commercial terms. This includes free or specially discounted use of items, goods, services or facilities.

In contrast, sponsorship may include transfers of money or property to the party on commercial terms. The law covers sponsorship and other types of donations to provide transparency on different methods of financial support provided to the party. Please see Sponsorship for more information.

Donations of £500 or less

Donations of £500 or less are outside the scope of PPERA and you do not need to record or report them.7

However, you must be alert to situations where it appears that a donor is attempting to evade the law. It is an offence to attempt to evade the controls on donations.8  For example, if a number of donations of £400 are made from the same source in similar circumstances in an attempt to evade the permissibility rules.

If you think this may be happening, you should contact us for advice.