Political Parties and Elections Bill

As the Committee will be aware, the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee of this House recommended an amendment to the Bill. We are very grateful to the committee for its careful consideration. As ever, the recommendation was well considered and we believe that Amendment 26, which we tabled in response to it, is an improvement to the Bill. The amendment will ensure that any order to prescribe the amount that may be imposed by way of a fixed monetary penalty should be subject to the approval of both Houses. It is the Government’s intention that the first supplemental order under Schedule 19C should be subject to the affirmative resolution. That order will, among other things, set the level of fixed monetary penalties. The amendment will ensure that any subsequent orders to amend the amount that may be prescribed should similarly be subject to affirmative resolution. We see merit in this argument, since theoretically it would be open to a Government to propose a significant change in the level of such penalties; and were this to be proposed, it would be right for Parliament to have the opportunity to consider the change. The amendment delivers that certainty, and we are grateful to the committee for recommending such a reasonable and sensible amendment. I beg to move.