Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 68
68
Rejected
Establish independent review of Electoral Commission's powers for fair elections and direct CPS referrals
Conclusion
We believe the Electoral Commission carries out a vital role as an independent regulator in the elections sphere, providing vital guidance and support to electoral administrators, political parties, individual candidates and the wider public. However, it is a regulator without sufficient teeth. Approbatory assessments and warnings are not sufficient. We call for the Government to establish an independent review of the Electoral Commission’s powers, to be carried out with a view to giving it the powers necessary to rigorously and proactively ensure that elections are carried out in a fair, impartial, and truthful environment. As a start, while we do not believe the prosecutorial power removed by the Elections Act 2022 should be restored, we do think the Electoral Commission should have the power to refer cases directly to the Crown Prosecution Service. As part of this review, it should be considered whether the Electoral Commission should have the power to bar a candidate from standing. This review should also consider whether other bodies are better placed to act or work in conjunction with the Commission, and if the powers of these bodies should also be strengthened. (Conclusion, Paragraph 175)
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the call for an independent review of the Electoral Commission's powers, stating it has no plans for such a review. It notes existing capabilities for criminal referrals and outlines its own reform plans to increase the Electoral Commission's maximum fine to deter rule evasion.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The Electoral Commission is the independent body responsible for regulating political finance and ensuring elections and referendums are run effectively and in accordance with the law. It has an invaluable role in upholding trust in our democracy. The Government has no plans to establish an independent review of the Electoral Commission’s powers. However, as part of our manifesto commitment to strengthen donation rules and stamp out foreign interference, we intend to introduce vital reforms which will significantly enhance the role and powers of the Electoral Commission. These reforms deliver on long standing recommendations by the Public Administration and Constitution Affairs Committee, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the Electoral Commission itself. As outlined in our recently published Strategy, our proposals include significantly increasing the Electoral Commission’s maximum fine up to £500,000 to deter those who seek to evade the rules, with safeguards in place to ensure fines are proportionate. We will also extend the Commission’s remit and civil sanctioning powers to include enforcement of political finance offences committed by candidates, local third parties and recall petition campaigners, closing the current “enforcement gap” where criminal prosecution is often considered inappropriate or not in the public interest. In doing so, we will recategorise administrative offences across the political finance framework to make them punishable in most cases through civil sanctions, enabling police resources to be directed towards tackling serious criminal offences and clamping down on foreign money entering politics. Taken together, these reforms will give the Commission the additional regulatory tools it needs to effectively secure compliance with the political finance framework and preserve public trust in the integrity of our democratic processes while at the same time enabling it to function as a modern, efficient, and proportionate regulator. The Commission cannot bring criminal proceedings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, nor has it ever done so. Where criminal prosecution is required or deemed appropriate for certain offences, the Commission can already refer those cases to the police and the relevant prosecuting authority who are experts in this domain. Our wider reform package is focussed on addressing low prosecution rates for political finance offences by rebalancing the enforcement regime to make it more proportionate and effective. This focus includes positioning the Electoral Commission as the primary civil enforcer of political finance rules, while reaffirming its ability to refer serious criminal cases to the police and courts.