Overview

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) requires us to prepare and publish guidance as to the use of our powers to investigate and sanction potential offences and contraventions of PPERA.

This enforcement policy fulfils that requirement. We are then required to have regard to this published guidance when exercising our enforcement functions. Please see our enforcement policy for more information.

What information we collect and why

In order to determine if an offence or contravention under PPERA has occurred, we may need to make enquiries of persons that we believe can provide relevant information. We will ask for documents, information and explanations on a voluntary basis or by using our investigatory powers, as appropriate. We may do this in writing or on the telephone, or by arranging meetings or statutory or voluntary interviews, depending on the circumstances.

Legal basis for collecting information

Our enforcement work forms part of our public task as set out in PPERA. Some of the information we collect to support this work is classified as special category personal data. We process this for reason of substantial public interest, which has a basis in UK law.

Publishing information

Where there is a public interest to do so, we may make a media statement when an investigation starts or if there is a change to its scope. Once an investigation is concluded we will publish the outcome on our website.

Sharing information

We may share information about our investigations with:

  • police and prosecutors in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
  • other regulators

Your rights

We may not be able to meet some rights, for example restriction and objection, because this processing is part of our statutory function. We will only process the data for the purposes as defined in PPERA. If additional processing is necessary to fulfil this statutory function, we shall take reasonable steps to inform you of this prior to the processing.