Political Parties and Elections Bill

I will address this amendment, even though it deals with supervisory functions, because it also deals with the commission’s investigative role. My first point is the one made by the noble Lord, Lord Rennard. A disclosure notice is essentially a request for information, requiring the person to whom it is given to produce for inspection by the commission any documents that relate to the income and expenditure of regulated individuals and organisations, and are reasonably required by the commission for the purpose of carrying out its function. It is appropriate and necessary for a regulator to be able to require disclosure from those it regulates, or those whom it has reason to believe hold information in relation to a suspected offence. The commission is best placed to decide whether it is necessary to issue such a request, and it would slow down the investigation considerably if each notice was accompanied by a right of appeal. I emphasise that a disclosure notice is not a sanction, so an appeals process is not necessary. As has been made clear by my noble friends Lord Campbell-Savours and Lord Borrie, individuals who feel that they have a reasonable excuse not to comply with such a notice—for example, for the good reason that they do not hold any of the requested documents—can provide the commission with an explanation of why this is the case. We would expect the commission to consider any such explanation carefully before deciding whether to insist that the notice should be complied with. In any subsequent proceedings for an offence of refusing to comply, any such explanation would have to be taken into account by the commission or by a court. We must also be careful here not to create an opportunity that might be exploited by those who, for reasons of their own self-interest, do not want to co-operate with the commission in performing its supervisory role or want to delay its investigations. I am afraid that we cannot accept the amendment. We are not aware that regulators with comparable powers, such as the Financial Services Authority, are subject to this sort of right of appeal when seeking information. We do not believe that there is a case for making a special argument for the commission in this instance. I therefore ask the noble Lord to withdraw the amendment.