Manchester council’s Labour group have been fined after failing to report more than £100,000 in donations to the Labour Party.
The group failed to notify the Electoral Commission of payments totalling £54,000 made to the Manchester Local Campaign Forum, an accounting arm of Labour, in 2018 and 2019.
As an unincorporated association the group must inform the UK’s electoral watchdog if it has given more than £25,000 to a political party.
It must also share any reportable gifts - or confirm no reportable gifts - they have received the year before, during the calendar year, or the year after receiving the contribution.
But the group failed to tell the Electoral Commission that they received no gifts for several months in 2016, all of 2018 and the first half of 2019.
While all reports have since been delivered, the Labour group in Manchester has been handed a £1,800 fine.
Since 2005 the Manchester Labour group has made 72 donations to the Labour Party totalling £524,924.
Councillor Pat Karney, secretary of the group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We hold our hands up, there was a communications problem.
“There’s no big scandal, we missed two dates to return information and they quite correctly insist that you have to return on them on certain dates.
“It’s as simple as that. It looks worse than it is, it looks as though we’ve not divulged a gift or contribution, but that isn’t the case.”
Reportable gifts that need to be shared include a single gift of more than £7,500, two or more gifts given by the same person in a single year, and any additional gifts from a source that has already been reported as giving a gift in one year.
Louise Edwards, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said it was disappointing to see unincorporated associations like the Manchester Labour group fail to meet clear requirements.
“It is vital that voters are given an opportunity to see accurate and timely data on where their money comes from,” she said.
“The Commission will continue to enforce these requirements on all parties and campaigners to ensure that voters have the information they need.”
