Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act

What is Non-party Campaigning?

Individuals or organisations that campaign in elections, but are not standing as political parties or candidates, are called non-party campaigners. The Electoral Commission regulates activities deemed as being for election purposes during a regulatory period before elections. Unfortunately, third sector activity could be included if it’s campaigning on issues that are associated with political parties and can reasonably be regarded as intended to influence voters at the election. The bedroom tax could be a current example of this. When this happens, the money an organisation spends on that activity could be classed as ‘controlled expenditure’ and become subject to regulation by the Electoral Commission.

What are the major changes under the new Act?

• The registration threshold has increased from £5,000 to £10,000 in Scotland. If you plan to spend over that amount on regulated activity, your organisation will need to apply to the Electoral Commission and account for its spending.
• The range of non-party campaigning activities which are regulated will be expanded. The newly regulated activities include advertising, market research, events and media work. For the first time, staff costs for all these activities will also count towards the spending limit.
• The maximum spending threshold in Scotland has been reduced to £55,000 from £109,000. If your organisation exceeds that threshold in the regulated period it will be treated as a criminal offence.
• Constituency spending limits of £9,750 have been introduced for the first time. This may cause problems for campaigning focussed on a particular geographical area, such as objections to a new road from environmental groups. Most organisations are not set up on a constituency basis and accounting for spend on this basis could be tricky and time-consuming.
• The ‘regulated period’ where the rules will apply has been reduced from one year to 7.5 months for the 2015 election only. This means it will start directly after the referendum on 19th September. After that, if no further changes are made to the Act, the regulated period will last for 12 months before each UK election.

How does this apply to Scottish elections?

Part 2 of the Act will apply fully in Scotland during UK parliamentary general elections. During Scottish Parliament elections the Act will maintain the regulated period of four months and the spending limit of £78,500. However, the widened scope of activities outlined above will be introduced, including staff costs. The changes won’t come into action until after the independence referendum but organisations should be aware of the specific rules that are in place for this referendum.

What happens next?

The Electoral Commission will produce guidance based on these new rules in the coming months. This will be crucial as its interpretation of the new legislation will define how much it affects the work of the sector. The Electoral Commission has committed to working with the third sector on producing these guidelines. OSCR will also be involved in this process and will also have to update their guidance to charities on the new rules. This will all be in place prior to the new rules coming into effect in September 2014. Until then campaigning is unaffected and organisations can continue as before. This Electoral Commission guidance outlines where things currently stand.

What are the opportunities to reverse these changes?

The government has committed to a review of the regulations after the 2015 general election. This could be an opportunity to reverse the changes and remove the threat to the campaigning work of the sector. The Bill did not allow for sufficient consultation processes and was rushed through Parliament, so it is important that third sector organisations have an opportunity to contribute fully to this review. Campaigners are calling for the Labour Party and others to commit to scrapping the Act if they are elected in 2015. If you have any questions about the changes, or concerns about whether your organisations campaigning activity may be affected, please let us know. The participation of the sector in public policy is a crucial part of a healthy democracy so although we need to be mindful of these changes, restricting or altering approaches to campaigning activity should only be considered as a last resort.