The Commission was not consulted on the decision to move the Early May Bank Holiday in 2020.<\/p>
It welcomes the government\u2019s commitment to work with the electoral community to address the practical implications of this for the administration of the polls. It is currently developing guidance for Returning Officers to support them with preparing for and delivering the 2020 elections.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-26T11:23:00.803Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "VE Day: Anniversaries"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 265547 on VE Day: Anniversaries, whether the Electoral Commission was consulted before the announcement that the Early May Bank Holiday in 2020 would be moved from Monday 4 May to Friday 8 May to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Cat Smith"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Lancaster and Fleetwood"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Cat Smith"} ], "uin" : "267756"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1132688", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1132688/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Electoral law allows parties to adopt a fundraising strategy that focusses on raising funds in small amounts. A positive aspect of this is broad engagement of people in politics.<\/p>
Parliament set a threshold of £500, above which donations must be from permissible sources. This is to limit influence from outside the UK on our elections and democracy. Below the threshold, sums given to parties and campaigners are not considered to be donations under law, but recipients still need to satisfy themselves who is giving these sums. Multiple sums from a single source could aggregate to above £500 triggering the permissibility rules. This would exclude overseas donors not on the UK electoral register.<\/p>
Parties must have systems in place to comply with the rules, and the Commission provides advice to parties and campaigners about how to ensure that they do. If the current law is complied with, there is no reason why micro funding would result in impermissible donations from overseas donors. However, if it is considered that confidence in this needs to be improved by more transparency, the level of the £500 threshold could be lowered by Parliament.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-24T09:58:46.777Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission plans to review the ability of UK political parties and campaigns to receive micro-funding from overseas donors.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4264", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Doughty"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cardiff South and Penarth"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Doughty"} ], "uin" : "911478"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130101", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130101/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Electoral Commission attended The Brexit Party\u2019s office to take a closer look the systems the party has in place to receive funds.<\/p>
Its review is still ongoing. This work will inform the Commission\u2019s regulatory work following the European Parliamentary elections and any recommendations it makes to the party. The Commission will also make any recommendations on the wider issue of the workings of the political finance rules in its statutory report on the administration of the poll.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4046", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bridget Phillipson"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Houghton and Sunderland South"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bridget Phillipson"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-11T09:20:32.213Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "The Brexit Party: Finance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what updates it has received from the Electoral Commission following the commission's visit to the offices of the Brexit Party on 21 May 2019.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4573", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Rosena Allin-Khan"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Tooting"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Dr Rosena Allin-Khan"} ], "uin" : "260707"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }