A House of Commons committee will propose amending the lobbying bill to increase the amount campaigners can spend, according to a report published today.
The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill returns to the Commons today following its third reading in the Lords yesterday.
The bill places limits on political activity by third parties in the run-up to an election, and charities have said it may harm their ability to campaign.
The House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee says in its report on the bill, published today, that it will seek to amend the maximum amount that campaigners can spend in the run-up to an election.
The bill proposes lowering this limit from £793,500 in England to £319,800, but the committee says existing levels should continue to apply.
The committee also supports amendments voted in by the Lords, which remove a requirement for charities to account for “background” staff costs and reduce the number of activities caught by a £10,000 constituency spending limit.
The report also criticises the way the bill had been “rushed through Parliament without proper consultation or pre-legislative scrutiny” and says it is “an example of how not to make legislation”.
It says while amendments in the House of Lords have improved the bill “in some instances, we think amendments to these amendments are necessary”.
The report is the second produced by the committee examining the bill. The first report, published in September, said the bill should be withdrawn altogether and replaced with new legislation later this year.
NCVO briefing calls for further changes
A briefing document published by NCVO today says that despite changes in the Lords, charities “continue to be concerned about the impact that the bill may have on their campaigning activities”.
“The bill considerably reduces the total amount that non-party campaigners can spend in the year before a general election, by approximately 60 per cent,” the briefing says. “The rules on campaigning in coalition remain problematic for organisations spending above the registration threshold.
“Over this amount, the rules on ‘working to a joint plan’ require organisations to be jointly liable for all spending. This will be a serious disincentive from working together because organisations will be deemed to have spent much more than they really have.”
And it says the definition of which activities were and were not “controlled expenditure” under the bill remain far too vague.
“It is crucial that charities and other voluntary organisations have absolute clarity on whether and when their campaigning activities will count towards controlled expenditure and therefore be regulated by the Electoral Commission,” the briefing says.
