To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department (a) has taken and (b) intends to take to enforce the imposition of financial penalties for parties which fail to comply with the regulatory requirements of the Electoral Commission; and whether her Department intends to introduce additional financial penalties. (130064)

The imposition of financial penalties on political parties that fail to comply with regulatory requirements is entirely a matter for the Electoral Commission.

The Government are currently considering the recent review of the Electoral Commission by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and also the recommendations of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee and of Sir Hayden Phillips that relate to the regulatory role of the Electoral Commission.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the future role of the Electoral Commission in determining electoral boundary matters will be. (130314)

The Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000 currently provides for the transfer of the functions of all the parliamentary boundary commissions, and the local government boundary commissions for England, Wales and Scotland to boundary committees of the Electoral Commission.

However, in its eleventh report, published on 18 January, the Committee on Standards in Public Life recommended that

“the Electoral Commission should no longer have any involvement in electoral boundary matters”.

The Government are currently considering its response to that recommendation alongside the others made by the Committee in its eleventh report.