Political Parties and Elections Bill

It is a good job that this amendment is not in force, because if it were we would not have the advantage of the company of the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, because he would be busy, perhaps in the Caribbean or somewhere else, handing out a writ. I see why the noble Lord, Lord Bates, has moved the amendment, but my noble friend Lord Campbell-Savours made a point in his usual incisive way why this amendment would not work. I suspect that before the end of the Committee I may be a victim of that incisiveness, rather than the noble Lord, Lord Bates. I appreciate that the amendment is semi-probing, in any event. However, I presume that it is also intended to cover disclosure notices issued under paragraph 3 in relation to suspected offences or contraventions. As drafted, it relates to paragraph 1(2), which refers to the commission’s supervisory role only. I shall deal with the amendment as if it applied to both the commission’s supervisory and investigative roles. This issue was the subject of debate in another place. As the Minister said in another place, we appreciate the importance of ensuring that disclosure notices are received and that those to whom they are given are aware of them. However, we believe that there are better ways of doing that, particularly in modern times. Obviously, serving notices by hand would place an unnecessary and potentially significant additional burden on the commission that would exceed those placed on other comparable regulators. It may also create an opportunity to allow those on whom the commission intends to serve a disclosure notice to obstruct the receipt of that notice, either by refusing to accept it or by putting themselves in a place where service becomes difficult, if not impossible. That would hamper the commission's supervisory and investigatory role. That is not what the Committee wants. A number of different methods may be used, including registered post, to send notices and ensure that they have been received. Registered post is used to send other important documentation and we can see no reason why it should not work well in these circumstances, too. It is in the commission’s interests to ensure that a notice is received. If not, it is not possible for the person on whom the notice is served to comply. We have had our debate on this issue and I hope that the noble Lord will withdraw the amendment.