Political Parties and Elections Bill

I understand the points that the noble Lord, Lord Bates, has made but what I find difficult is the taking out of the whole of that phrase. If, as has just been said, only the word "securing" were taken out with a view to the commission monitoring "compliance with", there might be much more logic to the amendment. However, as it stands, it seems that the noble Lord is seeking to take away a great bulk of the regulatory power that the Electoral Commission is designed to have. I think that removing the section relating to compliance means that the commission will not conform to the recommendations of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which made it very clear what it thought the role of the Electoral Commission should be, and the commission has duly accepted that role. The Committee on Standards in Public Life said that the Electoral Commission’s role should be, ""as a proactive regulator of Party funding—with the courage of its convictions to, where necessary, test advisory opinions in the courts, and have the power to fine political parties who break the law"," and, ""to provide strong control over electoral administration"." I believe that taking out that phrase takes away that role. I know that at this stage the amendment is probing but I think that it would be very wrong to do that. I believe that the Bill provides adequate powers of sanction to perform that regulatory role, and that those powers are balanced, proportionate and subject to proper safeguards. There is a lot of debate to be had about exactly what that regulatory role means. My first reading of the amendment is that it would take away the whole of the regulatory role in respect of compliance with the Committee on Standards in Public Life. I am sure that that is not what the noble Lord meant, but that is unfortunately how it may be read as it stands.