Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how much the Electoral Commission spent in 2014-15 on enforcement and monitoring of Part 2 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Campaigning and Trade Union Act 2014.
Answered by Gary Streeter
The aim of the Commission is to regulate in a way that is effective, proportionate and fair, in line with the principles of good regulation. Wherever possible, the Commission will use advice and guidance to assist people to help them to comply with legislation but will monitor and take enforcement action where necessary.
The Commission spent £66,000 on enforcement and monitoring of the Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Campaigning and Trade Union Act 2014 in the eleven months to the end of February 2015 and estimates that expenditure for the whole of 2014-15 will be £80,000.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many full time equivalent Electoral Commission employees are working on monitoring and enforcement of Part 2 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Campaigning and Trade Union Act 2014.
Answered by Gary Streeter
The aim of the Commission is to regulate in a way that is effective, proportionate and fair, in line with the principles of good regulation. Wherever possible, the Commission will use advice and guidance to assist people to help them to comply with legislation but will monitor and take enforcement action where necessary.
In 2014-15, two full time equivalent Commission employees (based on average full time equivalent employees over the year) worked on enforcement and monitoring of the Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Campaigning and Trade Union Act 2014 and the average full time equivalent budget for 2015-16 is 3.92 staff.
Asked by: Sadiq Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how much the Electoral Commission plans to spend in 2015-16 on enforcement and monitoring of Part 2 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Campaigning and Trade Union Act 2014.
Answered by Gary Streeter
The aim of the Commission is to regulate in a way that is effective, proportionate and fair, in line with the principles of good regulation. Wherever possible, the Commission will use advice and guidance to assist people to help them to comply with legislation but will monitor and take enforcement action where necessary.
The Commission plans to spend £182,000 in 2015-16 on enforcement and monitoring of the Transparency of Lobbying, Third Party Campaigning and Trade Union Act 2014.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the provision in the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 that only articles which can reasonably be regarded as promoting the electoral success of parties or candidates count as controlled expenditure applies to such online blogs promoting the electoral success of parties or candidates if it does not also apply to articles promoting the electoral success of parties or candidates which appear in publications with a print edition as well as an online presence.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 contains an exemption so that the publication of articles relating to the election in newspapers and periodicals (other than advertisements) do not count towards controlled expenditure and are therefore not subject to spending limits.
This Government considers that this exemption applies to online newspapers and periodicals, whether or not they have a print edition, in the same way as for printed newspapers or periodicals. This position was not changed by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.
As the independent regulator, it is the Electoral Commission’s role to determine how the exemption applies in practice.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 applies spending limits to stand-alone blogs such as the Huffington Post but not blogs produced by newspapers.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 contains an exemption so that the publication of articles relating to the election in newspapers and periodicals (other than advertisements) do not count towards controlled expenditure and are therefore not subject to spending limits.
The Government considers that online journalistic activity of a similar nature would be treated as falling within this exemption. In addition, only articles which “can reasonably be regarded as promoting the electoral success of parties or candidates” count as controlled expenditure.
This position has not been altered by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to public health directors on the Lobbying Act 2014.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 only applies to organisations whose activities “can reasonably be regarded as intended to promote or procure the electoral success of parties or candidates”. It does not apply to local authorities and Directors of Public Health in carrying out their official functions, and therefore the Department has issued no such guidance.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what discussions he has had with charities on implementation of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 since that act received Royal Assent.
Answered by Greg Clark
The Electoral Commission is producing guidance to explain the rules on non-party campaigning. The Commission has held four roundtable discussions for charities and other campaigners across the UK and Electoral Commission officials have spoken at events hosted by charity sector umbrella bodies.
The Commission will publish its full guidance on the new rules in the summer, in advance of the regulated period which starts on 19 September 2014.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what consultation there has been with charities in Northern Ireland on the Electoral Commission's guidance on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.
Answered by Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that since Royal Assent to the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 it has held four roundtable discussions across the UK, and has used an online survey to listen carefully to the needs of campaigners and explain its plans for guidance. One round table event was held in Northern Ireland and was hosted by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA). 24 organisations were invited to attend; 11 organisations - including umbrella bodies - were represented.
The Electoral Commission is also providing a series of campaigner updates, giving information on what the Act will mean for charities and other campaigners. These updates are available on the Commission's website and have also been promoted by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
The Commission will publish its full guidance on the new rules, which will include joint guidance with the charity regulators, in the summer. This will ensure that campaigners have guidance available to them in advance of the regulated period which begins on 19 September 2014. Meanwhile, the Commission will continue to offer charities and others bespoke advice as usual, both before and after the guidance is published and the regulated period begins.
Asked by: Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party - Perth and North Perthshire)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2014, Official Report, column 418W, on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, when the Electoral Commission will have finalised its guidance on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014; and how many charities (a) have been and (b) will be consulted in the compilation of that guidance.
Answered by Gary Streeter
The Electoral Commission informs me that since Royal Assent of the Act, it has published a series of regular updates that explain how the new rules will work and how they may affect campaigners. These campaigner updates are available on the Commission's website and Members of Parliament can also sign up to receive them at:
The Commission has held four roundtable discussions across the UK, and used an online survey to listen carefully to the needs of campaigners and explain its plans for the guidance. There were 82 responses from charities to the survey and 24 charities attended the Commission's roundtable events. Electoral Commission officials have also spoken at events hosted by charity sector umbrella bodies.
The Commission will publish its full guidance on the new rules in the summer, ensuring that campaigners have guidance available to them in advance of the regulated period. Campaigners are also able to approach the Commission for bespoke advice as usual and will continue to be able to do this when the new legislation comes into force on 19 September 2014.
Asked by: Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party - Perth and North Perthshire)
Question
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, whether he plans to meet charities and other interested parties to discuss the issuing of guidance on the implementation of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.
Answered by Greg Clark
Guidance is being produced by the Electoral Commission regarding the operation of the rules for non-party campaigners. The Commission are working with the UK's three charity regulators and other organisations to ensure that the guidance is clear and helpful.