---

Party Funding

I have today published the Government response to the report of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee report on party funding: ““Government Response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee First Report of Session 2006-07: Party Funding”” (Cm 7123). On behalf of the Government, I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee, the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, (Mr. Beith) and his colleagues on the Committee for their hard work in conducting this important inquiry into the funding of political parties. The Government are grateful to the Committee for its contribution to the current debate. The Government are committed to working out the practical arrangements required to take the regulatory framework to new levels of rigour, transparency, fairness and effectiveness. The Government further believe that all political parties must play their part in developing, and maintaining, a system of party funding in which the public can have confidence.