Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has an agreed definition of joint spending in relation to campaign spending for elections and referendums.

Expenses are defined in s75(1ZA) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 as ‘incurred by a person “as part of a concerted plan of action” if they are incurred by that person in pursuance of any plan or other arrangement whereby that person and one or more other persons are to incur [expenses], with a view to promoting or procuring the election of the same candidate.’

With respect to a referendum, it is for Parliament to agree the offences that would apply. For the EU Referendum, ‘acting in concert’ was defined in paragraph 22 of Schedule 1 of the EU Referendum Act 2015 as ‘expenses incurred in pursuance of a plan or other arrangement'.