THE Scottish Greens have been fined over £2000 for breaching electoral rules, it has been revealed.
The Electoral Commission (EC) wrote in its concluded investigations that the penalty was because the statement of accounts for 2020 was delivered late.
It is a legal requirement for all political parties to submit their annual accounts on time or they will be charged.
The Greens, led by Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, said that the error occurred due to late documentation coming from a third party, and said they are “confident” it won’t happen again.
The party were given a £2300 penalty which they must pay by July 13.
It comes just 10 months after the Scottish Greens and SNP signed the historic co-operation agreement which saw Harvie and Slater become ministers in the Scottish Government.
The EC’s investigation log reads: “The party's 2020 annual statement of accounts were delivered late. A sanction was appropriate in this case in line with our enforcement policy.”
Louise Edwards, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission said: “It is important for transparency that voters have timely and accurate information about political parties’ finances. The requirements are clear, so it is always disappointing when they are not met.
“Where we find that offences have been committed, we take into consideration a range of factors when deciding the level of sanction, as set out in our Enforcement Policy.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “We regret that due to documentation from a third party being received late our statement of accounts for 2020 was not submitted on time.
"Our accounts received a clean audit and we are confident the problem will not reoccur.”
