Kevin Hollinrake

The use of a battlebus by the Labour Party was reported in its return submitted to the Electoral Commission in January.

The Commission will publish the spending returns for parties and campaigners that spent over £250,000 at the 2024 general election in the coming months.

As part of this, it will publish invoices and receipts for any payment over £200, which parties have to submit with the details of their spending.

This is an important part of the Commission’s work to provide voters with transparency over the money spent and received at the election.

The Commission does not issue guidance on the registration of Members’ Financial interests. The Committee on Standards periodically reviews the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members and makes recommendations for changes for the House to consider.

The rules on registering donations under both Category 2(a) and 2(b) are set out in paragraphs 14 to 20 of The Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members. Those rules do not require the provision of information on individuals or organisations that donate to unincorporated associations or members’ associations which in turn, make donations to Members.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has issued an Advice Note on the transparency of registration of income, donations and other financial interests which explains the importance of transparency when registering financial interests. Advice Notes are designed to supplement, and not supersede or contradict, specific provisions of the Code.

The permissibility of donors is a matter for the Electoral Commission, not the Commission.

The government is committed to strengthening equal pay and ending pay discrimination.

Through planned legislation, we will make the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people. We will also put in place measures to ensure that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay, and we will implement a regulatory and enforcement unit for equal pay.

As we progress these measures, we will work in partnership with employers, trade unions and civil society and carefully consider their economic and social impact, including on employers, workers and the public sector. An equality impact assessment will be conducted as part of this.

The Commission has published guidance for parties and candidates and agents on spending by the party to promote a candidate during the candidate regulated period.

The guidance sets out how to identify whether an activity promotes a candidate, and if so, how this should be reported. In most cases, activity promoting a candidate must be reported on the candidate return, either as notional spending or as spending authorised by the candidate. In the case of a battlebus visit, this will depend on the content of the event and the role of the candidate or agent in directing, encouraging, or authorising the spending.

The Westminster Parliamentary Parties Panel meets four times a year, but it can meet more or less often if it needs to. It met in February, September and December 2024, and again in February 2025.

The scheduled June 2024 meeting was cancelled due to the UK parliamentary general election.

The minutes from previous meetings are available to view on the Committee's website.

On 13 February, the Commission published the 2024 general election spending returns from political parties and campaigners that spent less the £250,000. The data can be viewed on the Commission's website.

The Commission will publish data relating to parties and campaigners that spent over £250,000 in the coming months.

This is an important part of its work to provide transparency for voters over the money spent and received at the election.

The Commission recently consulted Westminster political parties on its proposals to amend the Policy Development Grants Scheme, following eligibility changes after the 2024 UK parliamentary general election.

Parties with at least two sitting members in the House of Commons who have taken the oath of allegiance, are eligible to receive a share of the total available £2m grant. All nine parties are eligible for the grant responded consultation. These were: the Conservative and Unionist Party, Demcratic Unionist Party, Green Party of England and Wales, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Reform UK, Scottish National Party, and Social Democratic and Labour Party.

The Commission recommended that the second £1m of the £2m total available grant should continue to be divided into pots for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, based on the proportion of the UK electorate living in each nation. Following consultation and the testing of different thresholds, the Commission also recommended that each nation's pot should then be split equally between the eligible parties that stood candidates in at least 50% of the constituencies in the relevent nation at the most recent UK parliamentary general election. It recommended no change to the existing method of allocating the first £1m of the available grant.

The Commission's reasoning was that a 50% threshold would give greater assurance that eligible parties have demonstrated a sufficient connection and commitment to the relevent nation's electorate and a presence within that part of the UK.

The Commission wrote to the parties in November to let them know the outcome of the consultation.

The Speaker’s Committee has a statutory role to review the annual estimates of resources of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE). It also considers the organisation’s five-year plan at the start of a Parliament.

As part of the process, the LGBCE submits a draft estimate and five-year plan to the Committee for consideration. In turn the Committee consults the Treasury on these and has regard to any advice the Treasury gives.

Ahead of the new financial year, the Committee is holding a public session with the LGBCE to consider its position. The Committee will then decide whether it is satisfied that the estimated level of income and expenditure requested is consistent with the economical, efficient and effective discharge by the Commission of its functions. If the Committee were not so satisfied, it would make modifications to the estimate as it considers appropriate for the purpose of achieving such consistency.

As part of this year’s review the Committee will need to assess whether the LGBCE has the appropriate level of provision to ensure it has the capacity and expertise to respond to requests for assistance in the context of the Government’s plans for local government restructuring in England.

The Committee is planning to meet the LGBCE next on 19 March 2025 and it will then take a decision on whether to lay the main estimate for financial year 2025/26 before the House of Commons for approval.

As part of its work to support the police, the Commission has provided advice to Leicestershire Police in relation to its enquiries into complaints about campaign literature distributed without an imprint at the 2024 UK Parliamentary general election.

The police are responsible for enforcing imprints laws on candidate literature.

The Commission responded to the request on 27 February 2025.

Under electoral law, while most UK companies are permissible donors, if a UK company acted as an agent for a donation by a foreign company, this donation would be impermissible. If a person or organisation makes a donation on behalf of another without disclosing this, they would be committing an offence.

The Commission has published guidance on permissable sources and on donations made on behalf of another person or organisation. This states that recipients must take all reasonable steps to identify the true donor and ensure that they are a permissable source.

The Commission is not currently discussing notional spending laws with either the Cabinet Office of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

In recent years, the Commission has discussed notional spending with the Cabinet Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the UK Government introduced changes to the notional expenditure regime in the Elections Act 2022.

The Commission does not currently have plans to publish specific guidance on the manipulation of social media algorithms.

Its guidance on donations and on non-party campaigning may be applicable to situations where a party or candidate is intentionally favoured by a social media platform's algorithm. The Commission is currently doing more work in this area to identify any key considerations for how the law is applied in practice.

The Commission does not hold information on photo ID ownership among 16- and 17-year-olds in England. If Parliament changes the franchise to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, the Commission would expect to carry out further research to understand current levels and types of ID ownership in this group, to inform its work to support newly enfranchised voters to understand the ID requirement.

The Commission's estimates of photo ID ownership are based on public opinion surveys, based on samples of adults aged 18+. Its latest research following the UK general election found that 95% of 18-24-year-olds have an accepted form of ID for voting. The Commission has called on the UK government to review the list of accepted forms of ID to identify any additional IDs that could be included to improve accessibility for voters, particularly focusing on forms of ID that would support people who are least likely to have documents on the current list.

The Electoral Commission is currently considering the matter in line with its regulatory remit. It does not have an investigation open.

The Commission has not published specific guidance on the permissibility of the programme mentioned. The Commission's guidance for political parties and regulated donees, including members associations, provides a list of permissible sources for donations.

Its guidance states that donations towards members association's political activities within their party can only come from permissible sources. These activities include promoting or developing policies with a view to their adoption by the party.

Lancashire Police have confirmed they are investigating a complaint regarding a candidate's election expenses. As part of its work to support the police, the Commission has respondeded to requests for advice from Lancashire Police in relation to this matter.

Candidate election offences are enforced by the police, and the Commission has no powers to investigate in this area.

Information on all concluded investigations dating back to April 2020 is listed on the Commission's website. Information on investigations which concluded prior to April 2020 can be found using the National Archives website.

The Commission's guidance sets out which donors are permissible. If a company is registered at Companies House, incorporated in the UK, and 'carrying on business' in the UK, it can donate to a UK political party or campaigner.

However, it is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false declaration about the true origin of a donation. If a donor was to mislead a political party as to the true source of the donation to evade permissibility requirements then they could be committing an offence. Any investigation would fall within the remit of the police, not the Electoral Commission.

Companies do not currently need to show that they have made enough money in the UK to fund their donations. Since 2013, the Commission has recommended changes to ensure parties cannot accept money from companies that have not made enough in the UK to fund their donation or loan.

No invoice is required for notional spending; the legal requirement is to make a declaration of the value of the notional spending in the return. To avoid confusion, the Commission does not refer to "notional invoices" in its guidance , and this term does not appear in legislation.

The Commission has published guidance on valuing notional spending. This states that candidates should make an honest and reasonable assessment of the value of the goods or services they are receiving. In practice, most parties and candidates include additional information about the nature of the spending, in case it is queried following the election. The Commission offers advice to all parties and candidates in response to their queries, in line with its published guidance.

The Government is committed to commencing the Equality Act 2010’s provision requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections. We are currently exploring when and how to commence the provision under section 106. We will provide an update in due course.

The Electoral Commission is engaging with the Government as it brings forward proposals to implement the manifesto commitment to give 16 and 17 year-olds the right to vote. The Commission is providing paractical advice on how any changes to the franchise can be implemented, as it has done for similar changes in Scotland and Wales.

Once the change is made, the Commission will update its guidance for administrators to assist them to understand and deliver the new registration eligibility. Electoral Registration Officers would then work locally to support the registration and participation of this new group of voters.

The Commission has said that changes to the franchise need to be implemented in a way that carefully manages the pressures on election teams, and that any changes to electoral legislation should be clear at least six months before they are due to be implemented or complied with by voters and electoral administrators.

The Commission will also undertake public awareness work to ensure all newly enfranchised voters know how to register, and have the information and confidence to take part. It is already working to ensure that young people hace access to impartial education about democracy and elections, and is partnering with a range of organisations to support under-registered groups.

The National Institutions of the Church of England submitted a response to the Law Commission’s consultation on burial and cremation. That response supported the introduction of a statutory code of practice for local authorities’ maintenance of burial grounds, including closed churchyards.

It also agreed with the Law Commission’s proposal that the Secretary of State should have the power to reopen closed burial grounds and that where a churchyard is reopened, the local authority should continue to have responsibility for its maintenance.

Local authority finance itself is not an area within the remit of the Church of England.

There is no leal requirement for an invoice for notional spending where it is reported in a candidate return. The requirement is for agents to make a declaration of the value of the notional spending. However, additional information about the nature of the spending could be included to show that the value declared accurately represents the services received and used by the campaign. This could include how the items have been split between different candidates and the costs of individual suppliers.

This information may be included with the return in a notional invoice from the party or any other organisation providing the items. If a return does not include evidence for the value of notional spending, and there is a question about its accuracy, the police, may need to seek this information through an investigation, to ensure that the amount decared is accurate.

The Electoral Commission offers advice to all candidates and parties in reponse to their queries and in line with its published guidance. For notional spending, the law states that no invoice is required in a candidate return. The Commission advises that additional information about the nature of the spending could be included to show that the value declared is accurate.

Qualifying foreign citizens residing in Scotland and Wales are eligible to register to vote in local government and devolved elections, and are therefore permissible donors for those elections. The Commission provides guidance to Electoral Registration Officers on the eligibility criteria. Political parties, campaigners and regulated donees are responsible to carry out checks on donations they receive to ensure they are from permissible sources, and for properly and accurately reporting them. The Commission has published guidance about who is and is not a permissable donor.

If the Commission is made aware of evidence that donations may have been misreported or have come from an impermissable source, it will consider it in line with its Enforcement Policy.

The Electoral Commission develops guidance in consultation with electoral administrators and parties and campaigners, to ensure it is clear and meets their needs. The Commission has upcoming statutory consultations on the new digital imprint guidance in Scotland, non-party campaigner Code of Practise in Scotland, and candidate, party, and non-party campaigner Codes in Wales. It is also planning to run a consultation on guidance around accessibility measures in elections.

Consultations on legislative changes, such as electoral law, are a matter for the Government. It is important that relevent stakeholders are properly consulted to ensure any changes are workable. The Commission is currently engaging with the UK Government on its manifesto commitments around electoral policy, and will consult on any necessary changes to its guidance arising from those legislative changes.

The Commission also develops its own policy proposals based on it experience of overseeing and regulating elections. It gathers data on experiences of voters, electoral administrators and campaigners at each election, and has regular discussions with the electoral community, governments, and other regulators on how the law could be updated or practice improved.

The Electoral Commission has no open consultations with the Parliamentary Parties Panel, and no consultations that are closed but have not yet been concluded.

The Commission hold regular discussions with the Westminster Parliamentary Parties Panel, and each of the devolved panels, on its work and guidance. It is an important forum to gather feedback and views from political parties who provide expert insight on how the law is applied in practise and their experiences at elections.

The Commission will publish returns recieved from registered non-party campaigners in two stages, with returns under £250,000 published shortly and those over £250,000 published in the coming months.

Non-party campaigners are required to register with the Electoral Commission if they intend to spend more than £10,000 on regulated campaigning ahead of a general election. However, they are only required to report their spending and donations to the Commission if they spend more than £20,000 in England, or £10,000 in any other part of the UK.

Labour Together registered with the Commission in March 2024. Following the election, they confirmed they did not exceed the reporting threshold. As a result, they are not required to submit a return.

The Electoral Commission publishes data and research on elections taking place in the UK, including electorate figures.

Figures on the number registered voters at each general election since 2010 are in the table below.

The Electoral Commission does not have regulatory or enforcement powers with regard to candidate spending and donations. It does, however, publish candidate returns together in one place in order to provide voters with greater transparency and a fuller picture of the money spent and recieved by the candidates at the election. It will publish headline figures from candidate spending returns at the 2024 general election in due course.

The charge to be supplied of copies of the election expenses is 20p per copy page, as set out in regulation 10 (3) of the Representation of the People Regulations 2001. The legislation does not specify whether this is in paper or electronc form.

As the legislation does not specify format, and as the fee is intended to cover the administrative costs of providing these documents, it may be applied to electronic documentation provided by email.

The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require specified public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consider actively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. Public bodies specified by the duty include county and district councils, the Greater London Authority, and London Borough councils. We will support public bodies to ensure that they have clarity as to how to meet the duty in readiness for commencement.

The Electoral Commission provides guidance to support returning officers to deliver well-run elections that maintain public confidence, including on the inspection and supply of candidate spending returns and declaration.

The Commission’s guidance states that the prescribed fee for the supply of copies of a return, declaration or accompanying document is 20p. This fee is intended to cover the administrative costs associated with providing these documents.

The Electoral Commission’s guidance sets out the law, which states that the loan of accommodation to a Parliamentary candidate during the election campaign would typically be notional spending and a donation.

However, if the accommodation provided is an individual’s main residence and it is made available free of charge, this is exempt and would not need to be reported as election spending.

The Electoral Commission has received candidate spending returns from returning officers for all 650 constituencies contested at the 2024 UK parliamentary general election. To support transparency, the Commission plans to publish headline spending and donations totals from the most recent general election in due course.

The Commission has a legal remit to secure compliance with the rules on candidates’ spending and donations, but has no role or sanctioning powers in respect of breaches. Enforcing the Representation of the People Act 1983 is the responsibility of the police.

The Electoral Commission provides guidance to support candidates to understand the law and their reporting obligations.

The guidance states that where candidates have split costs for an item of spending, each candidate must report the proportion of the costs that are attributable to their election campaign. Where multiple elections are held concurrently, candidates should make an honest assessment of the costs that are attributable to their campaign.

If a candidate has paid over £20 for the item, the invoice is required. If a candidate has received the item for free, this is likely to be notional spending, and the law does not require an invoice.

As of March 2025 there are currently 249 non-departmental public bodies operating.

Whether an ALB will become an NDPB, or another type of body is dependent on a number of factors and is subject to the Cabinet Office and Treasury approval process.

The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England.

Engagement with organisations is considered on a case-by-case basis.

I refer the hon. member to the answer given in response to PQ24244 on 23 January.