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Political Parties and Elections Bill

The noble Lord knows that in an investigation it is very important that the investigator should have the original documents rather than copies of them. That, I think, is the position generally across the investigatory world. Originals are not the same as copies, but I should argue that copies are sufficient for the person being investigated in this case, until the originals are passed back to him. The copying point is crucial in terms of whether this is a reasonable provision. It is clearly what the commission wants. I point out that the three-month period was not just picked out of the air. It is designed to mirror the equivalent limitation imposed on the Financial Services Authority by Section 176(8) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 in circumstances where the FSA obtains documents by warrant. Our consistent position in relation to these powers is that, subject to suitable safeguards, the Electoral Commission is given the same powers and is subject to the same restrictions as comparable regulators. That is what our proposals achieve. While I note that Amendment 18 would allow the commission to apply to a magistrates’ court to extend the retention period, this would place an unnecessary additional burden not just on the commission but the court. The amendment would only allow such an extension for offences involving in excess of £10,000. I make the rather obvious point that it is wrong in principle to assume that the gravity of an offence is based solely on its financial value. Moreover, in practical terms, the size of the sums involved may not be known until a thorough investigation has been conducted. This would be a difficult requirement in certain circumstances. I have made the point about copies. I also remind the Committee that there is no longer any risk of documents being seized, now that we have removed the warrant powers of entry from the Bill. It is, of course, a matter of opinion, but we believe that a restriction of 42 days is much too limited. It is an arbitrary figure and could have a significant impact on the commission’s ability to fulfil its statutory role.