Submission to the Political and Constitutional

Submission to the Political and Constitutional

Reform Select Committee

Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning

and Trade Union Administration Bill

Introduction to WCVA

Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) represents, campaigns for, supports and developsvoluntary organisations, community action and volunteering in Wales. We represent the sector at UK and national level; and together with a range of national specialist agencies, County Voluntary Councils, Volunteer Centres and other development agencies, provide a support structure for the third sector in Wales.

We have 3,000 members, and are in touch with many more organisations through a wide range of national and local networks. Our mission is to provide excellent support, leadership and an influential voice for the third sector and volunteering in Wales.

Overall summary

• We believe that thenew rules proposed in Part II of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Billwill have a significant impact on the day-to-day work of organisations within Wales’ third sector.

• We fear that the rules, as they are currently drafted, are unworkablepractically.

• We understand Government’s desire to legislate in order to promote transparency in this area. We hope you will consider our concerns and ensure the bill does not damage the work of Wales’ thousands of charities and community groups. With our colleagues at the National Council of Voluntary Organisations in England, we are keen to work constructively to achieve the objectives of the bill without imposing burdensome unintended and unnecessary consequences on a vitally important sector of society.

Key concerns

• The bill introduces a definition of 'activities for election purposes' which is so broad and unclear that it could capture a range of the day-to-day activities charities carry out, entirely legitimately, as part of their campaigning and policy/advocacy work.

• Under the Bill a wider range of activities will be regulated by the Electoral Commission, not only election material (such as leaflets, adverts, etc) but other campaigning activities such as events, media work and manifestos.

• The new definition of the term 'for election purposes' is cast in such broad terms that it captures all expenditure incurred for the purpose of, or in connection with, promoting or procuring the electoral success or enhancing the standing of a political party or candidate.

• The definition of 'for election purposes' doesn't rely only on the intent of the third party: the effect is also taken into account even if the activity was carried out for other purposes.

• Subsequently, legitimate day to day activities of charities engaging in public policy for non-political purposes could be considered 'for election purposes' and caught by the rules.

• A charity's activities which are intended to advance the interests of its beneficiaries, for example by raising public awareness of issues in connection with an election, could be regarded as being 'for election purposes' even if it doesn't refer to specific policies or candidates.

• It also means that charities' ability to react to important policy developments on issues relevant to their mission and beneficiaries could be undermined, as this could be seen as potentially coming within the meaning of 'activity for election purposes'.

• Campaigning against a proposed new motorway, or to shape forthcoming legislation, for example - which a charity may have been doing for a good few years, well before an election - may be caught by the new rules.It is deeply worrying that large numbers of organisations would be unable to know with any degree of certainty whether they were acting within the law, leaving them open to the risk of prosecution.

• The bill also stipulates that if a non-party campaigner spends more than £2,000 on election material in Wales in the year before an election, then it must register with the Electoral Commission as a 'recognised third party'. It will also reduce the total that registered campaigners can spend on regulated activity in the year before the election - down from £60,000 to £24,000 in Wales. All relevant spending on the defined activities will count towards these thresholds, including staff costs. Because of the way the total expenditure is calculated over the course of year and how broad the definition of 'for election purposes' is drawn, it is likely many organisations will reach this threshold. It is a criminal offence to exceed a spending limit.

• This reduction in permissible spend will cause problems for campaigning organisations, especially those involved in coalitions, as expenditure by coalitions is aggregated; this means that each member has to account for thefullamount spent for the joint campaign, regardless of the individual contribution. There are also to be limits on spending in individual constituencies, and new regulations concerning reporting requirements.

For further details, please contact:

30 August 2013