asked Her Majesty's Government:What limits will be in place on election expenditure by political parties and third parties for the next General Election. [HL535]

Paragraph 3 of Schedule 9 to the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 imposes limits on campaign expenditure by registered political parties in the 365 days prior to the date of a parliamentary general election. The maximum amount a party may spend is determined by the number of constituencies contested. A party receives an allowance of £30,000 for each constituency contested, subject to a minimum threshold. A party contesting every constituency in the United Kingdom would therefore be subject to a limit on campaign expenditure of £19.77 million during the normal 365-day period.We have today made a commencement order bringing Schedule 9 into force on 16 February 2001. As provided for in Section 163(6) of the Act, the order includes transitional provisions specifying a lower limit on campaign expenditure that will apply if the next general election is held less than 365 days after 16 February. In such circumstances, the allowance per constituency contested will be as follows:

Period before date of election	Revised allowance per constituency contested	Limit on party contesting all 659 seats
	£	£ million
0–3 months	22,500	14,8275
3–4 months	24,000	15,816
4–5 months	25,500	16,8045
5–6 months	27,000	17,793
6–9 months	28,500	18,7815
9–12 months	30,000	19,77

Paragraph 3 of Schedule 10 to the Act imposes separate limits on controlled expenditure by recognised third parties in each of' England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Again, these limits would normally apply in the period of 365 days before the date of a parliamentary general election. If the next election is held less than 365 days after 16 February, however, the following revised limits will apply:

	Limit on controlled expenditure in:
Period before date of election	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
0–3 months	595,125	81,000	45,000	20,250	741,375
3–4 months	634,800	86,400	48,000	21,600	79,800
4–5 months	674,475	91,800	51,000	22,950	840,225
5–6 months	714,150	97,200	54,000	24,300	889,650
6–9 months	753,825	102,600	57,000	25,650	939,075
9–12 months	793,500	108,000	60,000	27,000	988,500

The limits on national campaign expenditure by political parties and third parties complement rather than replace the long-standing local limits on candidates' and third party expenses provided for in the Representation of the People Act 1983.