The Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2006

Statutory Instruments

2006 No. 602

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE

The Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2006

Made

7th March 2006

Laid before Parliament

9th March 2006

Coming into force

1st April 2006

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 12 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000(1), hereby makes the following Order, which gives effect to recommendations submitted to him by the Electoral Commission for variations to the scheme for the making by the Commission of policy development grants:—

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2006 and shall come into force on 1st April 2006.

Policy development grants

2.  The scheme set out in the Schedule to this Order shall have effect for the purpose of the making by the Commission of policy development grants on or after the date on which this Order comes into force.

Revocation

3.  The Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2002(2) is revoked.

Signed by the authority of the Secretary of State

Harriet Harman

Minister of State

Department of Constitutional Affairs

Address

Date 7th March 2006

Article 2

SCHEDULE POLICY DEVELOPMENT GRANTS SCHEME 2006

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Scheme may be cited as the Policy Development Grants Scheme 2006.

(2) In this Scheme—

“the Act” means the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000;

“election” does not include an election to fill a casual vacancy;

“eligible party”, in relation to a year, means a party which is eligible for a grant in respect of that year by virtue of paragraph 3 below;

“English voters”, in relation to a Westminster election or a European election, means the number of persons who voted in England at that election;

“European election” means an election of members of the European Parliament;

“grant” means a policy development grant within the meaning of section 12 (policy development grants) of the Act;

“Northern Ireland election” means an election of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly;

“Northern Ireland voters”, in relation to a Westminster election, a European election or a Northern Ireland election, means the number of persons who voted in Northern Ireland at that election;

“Scottish election” means an election of members of the Scottish Parliament;

“Scottish voters”, in relation to a Westminster election, a European election or a Scottish election, means the number of persons who voted in Scotland at that election;

“UK electorate”—

(a)

in respect of the year ending on 31st March 2007, means 44,403,415;

(b)

in respect of any later year, means such number published by the Commission not later than 7th March preceding the beginning of the year in question as is calculated by the Commission to be equal to the total number of persons whose names appeared on an electoral register in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales on 1st December preceding that 7th March;

“Welsh election” means an election of members of the National Assembly for Wales;

“Welsh voters”, in relation to a Westminster election, a European election or a Welsh election, means the number of persons who voted in Wales at that election;

“Westminster election” means a parliamentary election other than a Scottish election; and

“year” means a period of twelve months ending on 31st March.

(3) Other terms used both in this Scheme and in the Act have the same meaning in this Scheme as they have in the Act.

(4) Any reference in this Scheme to a percentage is a reference to a percentage corrected to two decimal places.

Scheme period

2.  This scheme has effect in relation to years commencing with the year ending on 31st March 2007.

Eligible parties

3.—(1) A party listed in sub-paragraph (2) is eligible for grant under this Scheme—

(a) in respect of the year ending on 31st March 2007, if, on the date on which the Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2006 is made, it is represented for the purposes of section 12 of the Act(3);

(b) in respect of any later year for which this Scheme has effect if, on 7th March preceding the beginning of the year in question, it is represented for the purposes of section 12 of the Act.

(2) The parties are—

(a) the Conservative Party,

(b) the Democratic Unionist Party,

(c) the Labour Party,

(d) the Liberal Democrat Party,

(e) Plaid Cymru,

(f) the Scottish National Party, and

(g) the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

Amount available for allocation by the Commission

4.  The amount available for allocation by the Commission in each year for which this Scheme has effect is £2 million.

Allocation between eligible parties

5.  In each year for which this Scheme has effect the Commission shall allocate the money provided for the making of grants in that year so that—

(a) the Conservative party, the Labour party, and the Liberal Democrat party may each receive an amount not exceeding the aggregate of—

(i) the amount determined by dividing £1 million by the number of eligible parties; and

(ii) the amount determined for that year in accordance with paragraphs 6 to 8;

(b) the Democratic Unionist party and the Social Democratic and Labour party may each receive an amount not exceeding the aggregate of—

(i) the amount determined by dividing £1 million by the number of eligible parties; and

(ii) the amount determined for that year in accordance with paragraphs 6, 7 and 9; and

(c) Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party may each receive an amount not exceeding the aggregate of—

(i) the amount determined by dividing £1 million by the number of eligible parties; and

(ii) the amount calculated in accordance with paragraphs 6 and 7 as its notional share for that year.

Initial attributions

6.—(1) The Commission shall attribute—

(a) to England such amount as bears to £1 million the same proportion as the relevant number for England bears to the UK electorate;

(b) to Northern Ireland such amount as bears to £1 million the same proportion as the relevant number for Northern Ireland bears to the UK electorate;

(c) to Scotland such amount as bears to £1 million the same proportion as the relevant number for Scotland bears to the UK electorate; and

(d) to Wales such amount as bears to £1 million the same proportion as the relevant number for Wales bears to the UK electorate.

(2) In sub-paragraph (1), “the relevant number”—

(a) in relation to the year ending on 31st March 2007, means—

(i) for England, 37,151,991,

(ii) for Northern Ireland, 1,153,409,

(iii) for Scotland, 3,861,207, and

(iv) for Wales, 2,236,808;

(b) in relation to any later year, means—

(i) for England, such number published by the Commission not later than 7th March preceding the beginning of the year in question as is calculated by the Commission to be equal to the total number of persons whose names appeared on an electoral register in England on 1st December preceding that 7th March,

(ii) for Northern Ireland, such number published by the Commission not later than 7th March preceding the beginning of the year in question as is calculated by the Commission to be equal to the total number of persons whose names appeared on an electoral register in Northern Ireland on 1st December preceding that 7th March,

(iii) for Scotland, such number published by the Commission not later than 7th March preceding the beginning of the year in question as is calculated by the Commission to be equal to the total number of persons whose names appeared on an electoral register in Scotland on 1st December preceding that 7th March,

(iv) for Wales, such number published by the Commission not later than 7th March preceding the beginning of the year in question as is calculated by the Commission to be equal to the total number of persons whose names appeared on an electoral register in Wales on 1st December preceding that 7th March.

Calculation of notional shares

7.—(1) An eligible party’s notional share of an amount attributed in accordance with paragraph 6 is the aggregate of its share for each of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) below.

(2) The share for each country is the amount found by the application of the formula—

V × W,

where—

• V is the amount attributed to the country in accordance with paragraph 6, and

• W is the party’s weighted vote share for the country.

(3) A party’s weighted vote share—

(a) for England, is the figure found by applying the formula—

where—

• A is the number of votes cast in England for that party at the European election which most closely precedes 7th March prior to the start of the year in question, expressed as a percentage of the total number of votes cast by English voters;

• B is the number of persons who voted in England at that election, expressed as a percentage of the number of persons eligible to vote in England at that election;

• C is the number of votes cast in England for that party at the Westminster election which most closely precedes 7th March prior to the start of the year in question, expressed as a percentage of the total number of votes cast by English voters; and

• D is the number of persons who voted in England at that election, expressed as a percentage of the number of persons eligible to vote in England at that election;

(b) for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, is the number found by the application (separately as regards each country) of the formula—

where, subject to the substitution, for references to England and English voters, of references to Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland voters, Scotland and Scottish voters, or Wales and Welsh voters (as the case may be)—

• A, B, C and D have the same meaning as in paragraph (a) above;

• E is the number of votes cast for that party—

  (i)

  as regards Northern Ireland, in Northern Ireland at the Northern Ireland election that most closely precedes 7th March prior to the start of the year in question;

  (ii)

  as regards Scotland, in Scotland at the Scottish election that most closely precedes 7th March prior to the start of the year in question;

  (iii)

  as regards Wales, in Wales at the Welsh election that most closely precedes 7th March prior to the start of the year in question;

  expressed as a percentage of the total number of votes cast by Northern Ireland voters, Scottish voters or Welsh voters (as the case may be); and

• F is the number of persons who voted at the election concerned, expressed as a percentage of the number of persons eligible to vote at that election.

Determination of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat shares

8.  The Commission shall—

(a) add the notional shares calculated in accordance with paragraph 7 for the Conservative party, the Labour party, and the Liberal Democrat party; and

(b) divide the resultant amount by three.

Determination of Democratic Unionist and Social Democratic and Labour shares

9.  The Commission shall—

(a) add the notional shares calculated in accordance with paragraph 7 for the Democratic Unionist party and the Social Democratic and Labour party; and

(b) divide the resultant amount by two.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order re-states with variations the Scheme originally created in 2002 for making policy development grants to certain political parties to assist with the development of policies for inclusion in their manifestos for parliamentary elections, elections to the European Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly, local government elections and local elections in Northern Ireland. The Scheme, as varied, is provided in the Schedule to the Order, and has effect in relation to the year ending on 31st March 2007, and subsequent years.

The variations give effect to the recommendations of the Electoral Commission. The Ulster Unionist Party is removed from the Scheme because it no longer satisfies the eligibility requirement (of having two Members of Parliament who have taken the oath) contained in section 12 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

The amount available for allocation annually by way of grant under the Scheme is £2 million. It will be divided between eligible parties in accordance with paragraph 5 of the Scheme, and will comprise a fixed amount (determined by dividing £1 million by the number of eligible parties for the year) and a variable amount (determined by reference to each eligible party’s share of the vote, weighted by turn-out, in accordance with paragraphs 6 to 9 of the Scheme).

(1)

2000 c. 41

(2)

S.I. 2002/224

(3)

See section 12(1)(b) as regards interpreting “represented” for the purposes of policy development grants.