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Political Parties and Elections Bill

The amendment inserts a right of appeal in respect of the disclosure notice issued pursuant to paragraph 1(2). In the other place, there was concern that without a right of appeal, which is proposed in this amendment, we may facilitate an overly zealous approach by the commission. As it stands, the commission has to disclose notices freely on individuals and groups associated with political parties. Essentially, there is a danger that the notice regime becomes a fishing exercise. Without a right to appeal, there is nothing preventing the commission from trawling through records and other information in the slim hope of finding some minor detail to investigate. Clearly that is not what this legislation is designed for and not what the Electoral Commission has in mind. Therefore, from that perspective we felt that allowing this appeal might create a useful way for someone to react to having such an important notice served on them—for example, if they feel that they have been wrongly identified as the responsible individual, or other circumstances that need to be brought to mind.