Representation of the People Bill
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of whether voluntary sector incorporated associations have the capacity to undertake the increased regulatory requirements in the Representation of the People Bill.
Answered by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Government is committed to upholding and strengthening UK democracy by protecting against foreign interference, improving political transparency, adding tougher checks for donations and closing loopholes by reinforcing electoral legislation against foreign interference.
As part of this, with the Representation of the People Bill, we are introducing strict new eligibility criteria which companies must meet in order to make political donations. Following recommendations made in Sir Philip Rycroft’s review into countering foreign financial interference and influence in UK politics, we have committed to replace the revenue test with a post-tax profit test measured over five years. This will enable corporate permissibility to be assessed against profits rather than revenue, closing a key loophole and strengthening the integrity of corporate political finance.
Some legitimate companies are not set up with the explicit purpose of making profit, and it would not be fair to automatically exclude them from making political donations where they would otherwise be able to donate. Therefore, we will use a definition of profit which accommodates different types of organisations. Further details will be set out in due course.
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