Expenses Guidance Notes for Returning Officers UK ... · elections works in practice and where improvements can be made to ensure value for money is achieved. 1.7 The changes culminated

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March 2015

Expenses Guidance Notes for Returning

Officers

UK Parliamentary Elections 2015 (Great Britain)

Elections Division Constitution Group

Cabinet Office

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5

Purpose of this document ......................................................................................................................... 5

Using this document ................................................................................................................................... 5

Key terms .................................................................................................................................. 5

Returning Officer’s personal responsibility for accounts .................................................................... 6

Changes since 2010 ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Why have changes been implemented? ............................................................................. 7

Publication of claims data ......................................................................................................................... 8

Summary of changes to the Funding Model since 2013 ...................................................................... 8

2. Submitting your claim .......................................................................................................................... 11

Seeking Cabinet Office approval for specific expenditure ................................................................ 11

Important points to note ......................................................................................................................... 11

3. Legislative background .................................................................................................................... 13

Representation of the People Act 1983 ................................................................................................. 13

Electoral Administration Act 2006 .......................................................................................................... 13

The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2015 ......................................... 13

The three schedules to the Order ........................................................................................................... 14

Specified services .................................................................................................................. 14

Specified expenses ............................................................................................................... 15

Uncontested elections ......................................................................................................... 15

The Returning Officers’ Accounts (Parliamentary Elections) (Great Britain) Regulations 2015 . 15

4. Returning Officers and deputies requirements ........................................................................... 16

Returning Officers ...................................................................................................................................... 16

Acting Returning Officers (England and Wales) ................................................................................... 16

Deputies and authorised signatories .................................................................................................... 17

Government Funding for Deputy Returning Officers .......................................................................... 18

5. Revised Scrutiny Approach .............................................................................................................. 19

Plain accounts ............................................................................................................................................ 20

Light touch scrutiny .................................................................................................................................. 20

Full scrutiny ................................................................................................................................................ 21

6. Accounting requirements ................................................................................................................ 21

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National Audit Office ................................................................................................................................. 22

General requirements .......................................................................................................... 22

Specific requirements .......................................................................................................... 23

Proof of payment .................................................................................................................. 24

Payroll .......................................................................................................................................................... 25

Single invoices for multiple items .......................................................................................................... 25

Seeking advice ........................................................................................................................................... 26

Checking accounts .................................................................................................................................... 26

Bank accounts and interest accrued ..................................................................................................... 26

7. Initial and further advances ............................................................................................................. 28

Terms of advances .................................................................................................................................... 28

Initial advance ....................................................................................................................... 28

Further advances and Form D ............................................................................................ 29

Use of advances .................................................................................................................... 29

8. Making a claim ................................................................................................................................... 30

Time limits .................................................................................................................................................. 30

Extending time limits to submit accounts ............................................................................................ 30

Accounting for combination ................................................................................................................... 31

Form of claim ............................................................................................................................................. 32

Over and under spending ........................................................................................................................ 32

Submitting your claim .............................................................................................................................. 33

Checking your claim and reconciliation ............................................................................................... 34

Using data to inform future allocations ................................................................................................ 34

Settlement of accounts ............................................................................................................................ 34

9. General advice on what you can claim ......................................................................................... 35

Authorisation from ECU ........................................................................................................................... 35

Seeking value for money .......................................................................................................................... 35

Accounting for Equipment....................................................................................................................... 36

Election management software ............................................................................................................. 37

Mobile phones ............................................................................................................................................ 37

Acceptable and unacceptable items ..................................................................................................... 37

Sweeps ........................................................................................................................................................ 40

Contingency planning .............................................................................................................................. 40

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Staff costs .................................................................................................................................................... 40

Outsourced services .................................................................................................................................. 42

Claiming for Tax (VAT and income tax) ................................................................................................. 42

Tax and staff ........................................................................................................................... 43

Real Time Information (RTI) Migration .................................................................................................. 44

Claiming for National Insurance ............................................................................................................. 44

Employment of staff – transparency ..................................................................................................... 45

Superannuation on staff payments ....................................................................................................... 45

Indemnity .................................................................................................................................................... 46

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1. Introduction

Purpose of this document

1.1 This document has been produced ahead of the UK Parliamentary General Election

2015 (the General Election) to assist Returning Officers (ROs) - particularly those new

to the role - in explaining the funding mechanism for the General Election and how

Returning Officers should account for the expenditure they incur.

1.2 In 2014, Cabinet Office made a significant change to the system for election funding for

national polls paid for from the Consolidated Fund; moving from a system based on

unit cost assumptions to one based on actual expenditure information from the

previous relevant polls. Further details on these changes are set out at pages 7 - 10 of

this guide.

1.3 Returning Officers should ensure that they read each section of this important

document and also make sure that their teams are aware of the contents of this

document. It is the Returning Officer’s personal responsibility to ensure that claims are

accurately and effectively completed and signed off.

Box 1.

Claims should be based on the principle that you only claim for what was ‘necessary for the efficient and effective running of the poll’.

Using this document

Key terms

Box 2.

Account

Regulations

The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Accounts) Regulations

2015

Charges Order The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2015

Combined Any reference to combined polls means the polls taken together where

any poll or referendum that is formally combined with the General

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Returning Officer’s personal responsibility for accounts

1.4 As an RO, you are personally responsible for all the expenditure incurred for the

purpose of conducting the election in your constituency. You may only claim under

the Consolidated Fund for expenditure that is necessary for the efficient and effective

running of the poll. Although parts of the claim may be prepared by deputies or

election staff, responsibility for ensuring that the accounts are complete, legitimate,

properly presented and auditable rests with ROs.

1.5 Please therefore ensure that all parts of the claim meet with your approval before it is

submitted to the Election Claims Unit (ECU) or Scotland Office as appropriate; any

queries will be addressed to you in the first instance. You will be expected to respond

to any queries and justify your decisions if necessary.

Election poll

Consolidated Fund The central Government fund from which monies are made available to

Returning Officers for their expenses to be paid

ECU Elections Claims Unit - based in Hemel Hempstead, this team will

oversee all claims for England and Wales, issue advances and settle

claims

Guidance Note This Guidance Note which covers England, Wales and Scotland

Returning Officer Returning Officer (ROs) - also including Acting Returning Officer - the

independently appointed person charged with administering the polls

Scotland Office The Government department with responsibility for overseeing all

claims, issuing advances and settling claims made by ROs in Scotland.

Please note that any references to the Cabinet Office or the Electoral

Claims Unit in this guidance should be read as reference to the

Scotland Office (SO) in relation to constituencies in Scotland

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Changes since 2010

1.6 In February 2013, Cabinet Office commenced Phase One of its Funding Review

programme to evaluate and scrutinise the system for Returning Officers’ funding

allocations introduced in 2009. The Review considered how the funding system for

elections works in practice and where improvements can be made to ensure value for

money is achieved.

1.7 The changes culminated in a revised funding model, adopted for the first time for the

2014 European Parliamentary elections. The new model sets the basis for funding

allocations on settled expenditure at the last relevant poll. This year’s allocation has

been based on actual settled expenditure during the 2010 UK Parliamentary General

Election, uplifted to take into account changes in electorate sizes, postal vote

numbers, inflation and increases to Royal Mail charges.

Why have changes been implemented?

1.8 Analysis of data from recent national polls has shown that central Government has

been consistently over-allocating funding when using an assumptions-based model.

This is clearly not an effective use of public monies, as it adds to Government

borrowing and incurs unnecessary interest for the taxpayer. Our aim has been to revise

and update the previous funding system to ensure, that from last year’s European

election onwards, we allocate a more accurate amount of funding.

1.9 This exercise also aims to ensure that there is transparency around public monies

spent by ROs at each poll, including the payments which are paid to local authority

staff and the contracts which are in place with suppliers.

1.10 As a result of the funding review we’ve implemented a system which requires less

scrutiny and provides more flexibility for ROs. The previous reporting system has been

replaced with a system with three categories of scrutiny.

1.11 The purpose of these changes is to ensure that elections are fully and appropriately

financed and that ROs are able to discharge their duties effectively but the reporting

on expenditure is not unduly onerous. This approach is supported by the National

Audit Office and the Electoral Commission.

1.12 This change in approach to scrutiny will obviously mean that there is a reliance on ROs

following the principle of expenditure being necessary for the efficient and effective

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running of the poll and to seek and achieve value for money. There is a trade off

between the scrutiny level and the number of issues that arise within claims.

1.13 If issues do arise from payments which appear to be unreasonable or unjustified on a

repeated basis, Cabinet Office will need to consider moving back to a higher level of

scrutiny. It is therefore in everybody’s interests for this change to be recognised by all

ROs and for them to adhere to the principles around the correct and effective use of

the monies.

Publication of claims data

1.14 It is Cabinet Office’s intention to publish the data from the claims from this election (as

we also intend to do for the European Parliamentary election 2014). We will be talking

to the Electoral Commission as to what form that takes and we are happy to receive

suggestions from Returning Officers and their teams as to what information or analysis

would be beneficial to them in respect of highlighting good practice and achieving

value for money.

Summary of changes to the Funding Model since 2013

Box 3.

Area of change Change implemented Why?

Deadline for submitting claims

This has been reduced from 12 months to 6 months

During the Consultative Exercise conducted in 2013,

it was felt by most ROs that

a 6 month deadline was

achievable. (This was achieved for the 2014

European election claims).

The shorter deadline should enable greater efficiencies

in the claims process and

prevent unnecessary delays in claims being received

and scrutinised. Claims

should be settled in a more

timely manner.

Changes to the way we

approach funding

Allocations are based on

settled expenditure for each constituency for the previous

By revising the current

funding arrangements, the aim is to ensure value for

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relevant poll, adjusted to take

into account changes to the electorate size, postal vote

size, inflation, price increases

to Royal Mail

money, consistency and

fairness across the funding system. This, together with

the change in the scrutiny of

claims, means that moving towards a lighter touch will

enable subsequent analysis

of data and allocations for future elections to be

completed in a more

targeted manner.

We aim to provide a more

accurate amount of funding for each RO rather than

basing it on a one-size-fits

all formula which has led to

the borrowing of excess funds from the

Consolidated Fund, at a

cost to the taxpayer, only for that excess to be

returned once all claims

were settled.

Revised scrutiny approach Scrutiny now falls into three

categories: plain accounts,

light touch and full scrutiny.

During the Consultative

exercise, ROs and their

teams considered that the

reporting requirements of

the previous model were

onerous and

disproportionate compared

to reporting for other funds

for which they are

responsible.

The overall aim is to ensure

transparency and accuracy

of the reporting process

while still

retaining flexibility to

manage expenditure for the

running of the poll

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effectively.

Payments to staff that cannot

be recorded elsewhere (J1)

All individual staff payments of

£2,500 or more need to be itemised, with a breakdown of

tasks performed, the rate at

which they were paid and why

these individuals received more than £2,500 in total

across the claim per

constituency.

The expenditure head has

been introduced to promote

greater transparency

around the RO fee and staff

payments.

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2. Submitting your claim

Box 4.

The deadline for submission of claims will be six months from the day the result is declared for

the UK Parliamentary election. This is likely to fall on a weekend date, therefore for certainty we will set the date of 9 November 2015.

Seeking Cabinet Office approval for specific expenditure

2.1 We specifically require you to contact the Cabinet Office via the ECU to request

approval before you incur any costs on particular items or services. These include (but

are not restricted to):

● Use of consultants for the delivery of the poll;

● For any unusual or novel costs (for example, the procurement of any “non-standard

items” of equipment or services which you intend to use for the poll);

● IT and any other technological equipment.

A failure to do so may result in Cabinet Office refusing to reimburse you for such

expenditure.

Important points to note

2.2 Expenditure must be necessary and for the efficient and effective conduct of the

election. Precedents set when settling previous claims have helped to clarify what has

been deemed to be unreasonable and unnecessary expenditure. These remain

relevant and should be taken into account when considering whether expenditure is

necessary for the efficient and effective conduct of the election. Examples of the types

of expenditure that fall into these categories are given at pages 37 onwards in

‘Acceptable and unacceptable items’.

2.3 The Minister can refuse to settle claims that do not conform to the statutory

requirements. This includes claims submitted late, or those without sufficient

supporting documentation, or those, which cannot be audited.

2.4 This Guidance Note is intended to be as comprehensive as is reasonably possible and

covers most of the questions likely to arise. However, if you have any problems to

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which you cannot find the answer, or are experiencing any difficulties with the

preparation or presentation of your accounts, or you have doubts or concerns as to

whether a particular item or service is appropriate or necessary for the running of the

poll, you should seek guidance before procurement.

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3. Legislative background

Representation of the People Act 1983

3.1 The principal legislation governing UK Parliamentary elections is the Representation of

the People Act 1983 (the 1983 Act). This Act consolidated all previous primary

legislation relating to UK Parliamentary elections, though it has itself subsequently

been considerably amended.

3.2 Section 29 of the 1983 Act provides for payments by and to Returning Officers and

gives the Secretary of State the power to make Orders specifying the charges

recoverable by Returning Officers for election expenses.

Electoral Administration Act 2006

3.3 The Electoral Administration Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) introduced a number of changes

to the arrangements for the recovery of the costs of Returning Officers’ services and

expenses at UK Parliamentary elections. The 2006 Act amended section 29 of the 1983

Act to allow the Secretary of State to specify in an Order the total overall amount a

Returning Officer can recover for the services rendered and the expenses incurred for

or in connection with an election, providing the services were necessarily rendered or

the expenses were necessarily incurred for the efficient and effective conduct of the

election.

3.4 The amended section 29 also enables the Secretary of State to specify a maximum

recoverable amount for services or expenses of a specified description. In addition, in

a particular case the Secretary of State may authorise the payment of more than the

maximum recoverable amount if he is satisfied that it was reasonable to render the

services or incur the expenses in question and that the charges for them were

reasonable.

The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges)

Order 2015

3.5 The current Charges Order is made under section 29 of the 1983 Act. The schedules to

the Order list the Parliamentary constituencies in Great Britain and set out the

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maximum amounts recoverable by ROs in respect of specified services rendered and

the specified expenses incurred in connection with the running of the elections. These figures totalled together provide the overall maximum recoverable amount (MRA) for

each constituency. The Charges Order is available at

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/476/pdfs/uksi_20150476_en.pdf.

The three schedules to the Order

Box 5.

Schedule 1

Lists all the constituencies in Great Britain in alphabetical order setting out the MRA available for a single poll for a General Election. Any constituency

which is to have a single poll should consult this schedule. Any UK

Parliamentary by-election subsequent to the General Election will use the

figures as listed in schedule 1 (unless that by-election is to be combined with another poll).*

Schedule 2 Lists those constituencies which are scheduled to have local council

elections on 7 May 2015 in addition to the General Election. The schedule

does not take into account combinations which also include Parish

elections alongside the General Election and local election. You will need to notify Cabinet Office and ECU after the poll if expenses were incurred for any

contested Parish elections.*

Schedule 3 Lists those constituencies which are scheduled to have local council

elections and a Mayoral election on 7 May 2015 in addition to the General

Election.* The schedule does not take into account combinations which also include Parish elections alongside the General Election and local election.

You will need to notify Cabinet Office and ECU after the poll if expenses were

incurred for any contested Parish elections.

Specified services

3.6 The Charges Order lists what constitutes a RO’s specified services and sets out the

maximum amounts recoverable for these services. These include making

arrangements for the election and discharging the RO’s duties at the election.

* If any other type of poll is also to be run on combination on 7 May, please contact the Cabinet Office for further

information for the revisions that will be made to your funding allocation.

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Specified expenses

3.7 The Charges Order lists what a RO may claim in respect of specified expenses and the

amounts recoverable for each constituency. These include providing and paying staff,

conducting the poll and count and the ancillary activities necessary to discharge the

RO’s functions.

Uncontested elections

3.8 In the event of an uncontested Parliamentary election, the Charges Order sets out the

overall maximum recoverable amount at £1,750 for each constituency.

The Returning Officers’ Accounts (Parliamentary Elections)

(Great Britain) Regulations 2015

3.9 These Regulations replace the previous Accounts Regulations for England and Wales

which were made in 2010 and replace The Returning Officers’ Accounts (Parliamentary

Elections) (Scotland) Regulations 1991. They set out the time and manner in which

ROs’ accounts must be submitted. The Regulations require accounts to be submitted

within six months commencing on the date the election results are declared.

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4. Returning Officers and deputies

requirements

Returning Officers

4.1 The 1983 Act specifies who the Returning Officer is (sections 24 and 25), his or her

general duties (section 27) and who may discharge his or her functions (section 28) at

a Parliamentary election.

4.2 For a County Constituency in England and Wales which is coterminous with or wholly

within a county boundary (or preserved county boundary in Wales), it is the Sheriff of

the county. For a Borough Constituency in England and Wales which is coterminous

with or wholly within a district council boundary (or county borough in Wales), it is the

Chairman of the District Council. For a London constituency coterminous with or

wholly within a London Borough, it is the Mayor of the Borough or the Chairman of the

Council. For any other constituency the Returning Officer is designated by the

Secretary of State.

4.3 In Scotland, where the constituency is wholly situated within a local government area,

the Returning Officer is the person appointed (under section 41 of the 1983 Act) as the

Returning Officer for local elections in that area. For any other constituency the

Returning Officer is designated by the Secretary of State.

4.4 In England and Wales, for UK Parliamentary elections, all the functions of Returning

Officers are discharged by Acting Returning Officers. Returning Officers may reserve

some specific functions to themselves (the declaration of the result of the election, the

issue of the public notice of the result and the return of the writ) by giving written

notice to the Acting Returning Officer. They may also delegate to the Acting Returning

Officer the duty to receive the writ, but only if they do so in writing in the prescribed

form to the Clerk of the Crown.

Acting Returning Officers (England and Wales)

4.5 The Acting Returning Officer in England and Wales is either the registration officer

designated by the Council or the registration officer designated by the Secretary of

State in the Order referred to above. An Acting Returning Officer has all the powers,

obligations, rights and liabilities of a Returning Officer. S/he will carry out all the duties

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of the Returning Officer (except those mentioned above which have been reserved or

not delegated) including in relation to expenses.

4.6 Acting Returning Officers in England and Wales and Returning Officers in Scotland can

recover their charges for services necessarily rendered and expenses necessarily

incurred for or in connection with the elections. The Charges Order lists the specified

services and sets out the maximum recoverable amounts for these specified services.

Similarly it lists the specified expenses and the maximum recoverable amount for the

specified expenses. The total of these two amounts is the overall maximum

recoverable amount available for that constituency.

4.7 Acting Returning Officers in England and Wales and Returning Officers in Scotland are

responsible for preparing and submitting the accounts for their own activities. Even if

deputies assist in the preparation of the accounts, the responsibility for their accuracy

and presentation ultimately rests with the Acting Returning Officer or Returning

Officer, who must sign them off personally. In this guidance, the term Returning Officer

also encompasses Acting Returning Officer, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Deputies and authorised signatories

4.8 It is recognised that Returning Officers may wish to appoint deputies (or deputes in

Scotland) to act on their behalf. There is therefore provision for the appointment of

deputies who can also be given delegated powers to sign documents instead and on

behalf of Returning Officers, should those officers be unavailable. Deputies who are

given responsibility for covering the entire range of the Returning Officers’ duties are

referred to as “deputies with full powers”. Other deputies may be given limited powers

to exercise responsibility over specifically identified areas or functions. The ECU will

accept documents signed by deputies only when they have been notified of their

identity in advance, provided with specimen signatures against which subsequent

signatures can be checked and supplied with a copy of their letter of appointment

signed by the relevant Returning Officer. Form B is available for this purpose.

4.9 In general it is preferable for the use of such deputies to be restricted both as to

function and to numbers. Whenever possible the relevant Returning Officer should

sign documents personally. Only when it is absolutely essential should delegated

powers to sign documents be called upon. It should not be necessary to appoint large

numbers of deputies at one time. In addition, their specific functions and the extent of

the delegation should be made clear when they are appointed. This not only ensures

that Returning Officers are fully engaged in the preparation and submission of their

accounts and cognisant of their progress and content, it also establishes a clear and

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verifiable audit trail back to the responsible authority and lessens the risk of

misunderstanding.

Government Funding for Deputy Returning Officers

4.10 There is no specific fee for Deputy ROs. The funding review highlighted a number of

instances where claims had been submitted in respect of “DRO fees”. Please note

that there is no provision for this in the Charges Order or elsewhere in legislation.

4.11 ROs are able to allocate some or all of their own fees to deputies, but will not receive

any further contribution over and above this amount for a fee for deputies.

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5. Revised Scrutiny Approach

5.1 Prior to the 2014 European Parliamentary election, the Returning Officer submitted all

supporting evidence in relation to expenditure made for the election. Following a

consultation with stakeholders in 2013, findings showed that most ROs felt that this

was too onerous and it attracted a cost and time resource for all those involved in the

claims process.

5.2 The new model, introduced in 2014, adopts three levels of scrutiny:

Plain accounts

Light touch

Full scrutiny

Unless specified otherwise most constituencies will be randomly placed into one of

these accounting categories. As we move to a position where a higher proportion of

claims can be reviewed as light touch or plain accounts, a phased approach is taken to

ensure that the accuracy and quality of claims remain high. We must also await the

conclusions from the National Audit Office (NAO) on the revised methodology, which

are expected in autumn 2015.

Box 6.

Category Claim form

Evidence for ALL purchases

Evidence for printing

Evidence for payments to staff

Evidence for payments of £2,500

IT software / licence invoice

% of claims in this category

Plain Accounts 20

Light Touch 60

Full Scrutiny 20

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Box 7.

IMPORTANT NOTE: AUDIT

The majority of Returning Officers will not be required to submit additional evidence in

support of their claim. However, all Returning Officers should retain all invoices and evidence

for audit purposes. The NAO will randomly select ROs in each category to perform an audit.

The NAO may carry out site visits to a number of ROs in the plain accounts only category as

part of their audit. The rationale for this is that additional checks may be required to ensure

that all evidence is collected and retained by ROs, even though they are not required to submit

this as part of their claims, to ensure that all expenditure can be backed up and justified with

evidence.

Plain accounts

5.3 ROs will need to account for all expenditure (under each expenditure head). However,

they will not be required to submit any accompanying vouchers, invoices or receipts

except for:

IT software/licence invoices;

Single payments of £2,500 to a member of staff; or

An aggregate total of £2,500 across all the expenditure heads to a member of staff;

£2,500 or more for a single capital item.

5.4 Vague or ambiguous descriptions in the forms may require the ECU to query the

expense. This may, in turn, lead them to require the supporting document(s) in respect

of the relevant expense, even for those ROs subject to plain accounts scrutiny.

5.5 If the claim exceeds the MRA, it will automatically become a full scrutiny account and

the RO will need to provide all the evidence in relation to the claim.

Light touch scrutiny

5.6 ROs will need to account for all expenditure (under each expenditure head) however,

they will not be required to submit any accompanying vouchers, invoices or receipts

except for:

● IT software/licence invoices;

● Single payments of £2,500 made to a member of staff; or

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● An aggregate total of £2,500 across all the expenditure heads to a member of staff;

● Printing (poll cards, ballot papers, postal voting statements etc.);

● Payments to staff that cannot be recorded elsewhere (J1) (previously General Clerical);

and

● Postage (poll cards and postal votes).

5.7 Vague or ambiguous descriptions in the forms may require the ECU to query the

expense. This may in turn lead them to require the supporting document(s) in respect

of the relevant expense, even for ROs subject to accounts only based scrutiny.

5.8 If the claim exceeds the MRA, it will automatically become a full scrutiny account and

the RO will need to provide all the evidence in relation to the claim.

Full scrutiny

5.9 ROs will be subject to full scrutiny and thus required to submit evidence in respect of

all expenditure if:

● They fall into the random sample group; or

● Their MRA is exceeded at the 2015 General Election.

5.10 As such, claims which would normally be subject to plain accounts or light touch

scrutiny will automatically fall under full scrutiny if the MRA is exceeded in 2015 and

this means that supporting documents will need to be submitted in respect of all

expenditure.

Box 8.

IMPORTANT NOTE

These changes to the scrutiny process overall are based on the premise that those responsible

for these monies are ensuring all expenditure is necessary for the efficient and effective

running of the poll to seek value for money.

If there are significant issues that arise from payments that appear to be unreasonable or

unjustified expenditure, CO will need to consider moving back to a higher level of scrutiny in

general. It is therefore in everyone’s interests for this change to be recognised.

6. Accounting requirements

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National Audit Office

6.1 You are advised to read this chapter carefully to ensure that your accounts meet the

general and specific requirements. Those assisting the RO with the completion of

accounts should also read and be familiar with the information in this chapter.

6.2 The Cabinet Office will prepare overall annual accounts summarising individual

accounts submitted by ROs in England and Wales for the various elections for which it

is responsible for. A similar approach is taken by the Scotland Office.

6.3 The NAO has shown a particular interest in the accounting for election expenses. The

failure to submit accounts on time resulted in the NAO qualifying its opinion on

election accounts between 2002 and 2009. However more recently, the reporting for

financial years 2009 to 2013 were not qualified - reflecting the timeliness of the

submission of accounts.

6.4 The Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office and the Director of Scotland Office are

the Accounting Officers for these purposes. The Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet

Office signed off the Cabinet Office RO Accounts in 2013 without qualification. We are

keen to ensure next year’s accounts are signed off in a similarly timely manner. This

includes ensuring that:

● Claims are received in hard copy or electronically by 9 November 2015;

● All supporting documentation (depending on what scrutiny category you fall into) is

provided and properly logged on the claim form.

General requirements

6.5 You can now submit forms electronically without having to submit a duplicate hard

copy. However, Forms A, B, C and D will need to be sent as hard copies because these

should contain original signatures.

6.6 Reporting requirements for non-staff costs have increased. These will require more

detailed narrative of what they include and set out the VAT where applicable.

Box 9.

EXAMPLE

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Outlined below are examples of sufficient and insufficient narratives relating to non-staff items.

For this example, the purchase of chairs has been used.

“Purchase of 50 foldable lightweight chairs to be used across 25 polling stations where none are available at the venue”

“Chairs purchased”

6.7 Irrespective of submitting accounts electronically, you will still need to provide

evidence of relevant supporting documentation - depending on whether the claim is

subject to the plain accounts, light touch or full scrutiny regimes.

Specific requirements

6.8 We have a number of specific requirements for all claims. This is in order to ensure, as

far as possible, protection against the risk of fraud. Key requirements are:

i. All hard copies of accounts and supporting vouchers or invoices (where required) must

be completed either in typescript or in pen. Pencil is not acceptable and any

documents submitted in pencil will be returned for re-submission in the correct

format;

ii. Accounts and supporting documents must not be altered using correction materials.

This applies especially to the summary of accounts form (Form A), which you

personally certify as correct. Any improperly completed documents will be returned

for re-submission;

iii. All payments made must be supported, preferably by a scanned or hard copy of

original invoices certified by the RO. These will need to be provided to ECU depending

on which scrutiny category you are in. Original receipted vouchers should be retained

by the RO and care must be taken to collect and preserve these safely.

6.9 However, evidence of all expenditure will still need to be collected and retained by

each RO. This evidence may subsequently be requested by Cabinet Office or the NAO

for audit purposes if deemed necessary.

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Proof of payment

6.10 Scanned or hard copies, and if necessary original copies, of invoices receipts and

vouchers will be accepted as evidence of the expenditure. They must be numbered to

indicate how they relate to the entries on the covering forms or the electronic

accounts, and in the order they are shown on those forms or accounts.

6.11 Where no supporting documents are available you should inform ECU before

submitting the claim to explain why. The ECU may, in exceptional circumstances, be

prepared to accept the following, by agreement only:

● Cross-referenced original bank statements or paid cheques in lieu of individual

receipts, together with a description of the expenditure if they are not already self-

explanatory; or

● In very exceptional circumstances, where it is not possible to obtain or create a copy of

the original receipted documentation and the above condition cannot be met either

(but only in that circumstance), a personal declaration from the RRO/RO (or a properly

authorised deputy) that the payments have been made and the figures are accurate.

6.12 If required by the National Audit Office, Cabinet Office will request additional

documentation directly from the ROs.

6.13 It is important to note that the NAO has reiterated that personal declarations should

be made only in very exceptional circumstances. We would, therefore, expect you to

make every effort beforehand to obtain supporting documentation (this may however

be submitted in electronic format). Where a claim contains a number of personal

declarations we will query your submission and challenge you to make further efforts

to produce supporting documentation before your claim can be settled.

6.14 This process is likely to severely delay the payment of any balance owed.

6.15 We also reserve the right to refuse to pay for any parts of your claim where a

reasonable explanation cannot be provided for the absence of supporting material.

25

Payroll

6.16 For payments to staff, given the introduction of Real Time Information tax

arrangements, the submission of individual vouchers (P528s) will no longer be

necessary to substantiate each claim. Where supporting documentation is required,

(see section on scrutiny) it will now be sufficient for printouts from EMS or similar

systems to be provided with the expenses forms. These should be signed by the RO or

Deputy with full powers if the RO is not available.

6.17 The reporting requirement has also been relaxed to allow staff costs to be set out in a

simplified way in the expenses forms. Instead of having to set out all the staff names it

will be sufficient to set out the type and number of staff employed on a particular task

as well as their fee and total cost (e.g. 40 Polling Clerks x £[rate allocated] = £[total]).

Box 10.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR FILLING IN FORMS AND ANNEXES

ROs will be required to provide additional details, in Form L, of any individual who has received

payments across each of the expenditure heads of, or in excess of, £2,500 per constituency.

This must include:

● A breakdown of the tasks performed;

● The rate at which they were paid;

● The number of hours worked.

Form L also has to be completed for an individual where they have earned £2,500 or more in

total, across all of the constituencies that they have been working on.

6.18 The above provisions will allow the scrutiny of staff payments to be made without the

need for local authorities to submit signed vouchers in respect of each individual

payment and should allay concerns that allowing the recovery of items without

supporting documentation will increase the risk of invalid or fraudulent expenditure.

These claims will no longer be paid unless a breakdown is included.

Single invoices for multiple items

6.19 Where a voucher or invoice covers several items of expenditure across different heads

of accounts, the document (when required as supporting evidence) must be

positioned where the first item appears in the covering form. Subsequent items can

26

then be listed on the appropriate form and cross-referenced to that first appearance,

or a cross-referenced photocopy may be positioned accordingly. Electronic accounts

should cross-reference to the relevant supporting documentation.

Seeking advice

6.20 If you are unsure of what to do in any particular case, the ECU will be happy to advise.

It is better to ask in advance than take a decision which may result in rejection at a

later date.

Checking accounts

6.21 You may have access to professional bookkeeping or auditing services within your

local authority. Though we recognise that you are acting outside the jurisdiction of the

local authority for the purposes of running an election, accountants and auditors may

be able to check in the quality control of your accounts - despite not having an official

role in relation to election matters.

6.22 We recognise that this is a decision for the RO though we recommend, as good

practice, having an independent and suitably qualified person check the accounts.

6.23 There is no specific allowance for an internal bookkeeper in the allocation however,

we will consider paying reasonable costs in using a bookkeeper under Head J4 (Costs

of materials and services) provided they are reasonable and within your overall

maximum recoverable amount. Approval from Cabinet Office must be sought before

employing the services of a bookkeeper.

Bank accounts and interest accrued

6.24 ROs are strongly advised to consider opening separate bank or building society

accounts for their initial advances and subsequent election expenditure. This ensures

that the funds are kept separate from local authority money and that the expenditure

can be easily accounted for.

6.25 A separate account ensures that lines of accountability and responsibility are clear and

that only staff directly authorised by the RO have access to the account.

27

6.26 If a Returning Officer does choose to use a local authority bank account, rather than

setting up their own, it must be very clearly distinguished and account for the ROs

expenditure separately from local authorities expenditure.

6.27 Any interest which a RO receives on a bank account which is opened for the purposes

of the election must be returned to ECU upon submission of the claim.

28

7. Initial and further advances

Terms of advances

7.1 The Representation of the People Act 1983 as amended by the Electoral

Administration Act 2006, allows the Minister to make advance payments to ROs on

terms as s/he thinks fit to cover the initial costs of the election.

Initial advance

7.2 Initial advances will be distributed to ROs during early April 2015 (in the new financial

year). Payment of advances will only be made if ECU / Scotland Office have received

notification from each RO of the bank account details to which payments are to be

made. ECU will be sending each RO a form, (Form C), to allow ROs to record bank

details. Once this is received, an advance of 75% (see Box 11) of the overall MRA will be

payable to the RO.

7.3 Further advances can be made at the Cabinet Office’s discretion and up to a further

15% of the overall MRA can be advanced to a RO (to a maximum total of 90%). These

advances are made for ROs facing unexpected and / or higher costs which cannot be

covered by the initial advance.

7.4 Payment will be made direct to the notified bank account. Form C must be signed by

the relevant RO to confirm that they have read and accepted the terms on which the

advance has been made. The terms are:

● The RO will account properly and on time for any advances;

● The RO will repay any unspent funds that have been advanced to them;

● The RO will use any advances only in accordance with the provisions in the Charges

Order; and

● The RO has read and understands the compliance measures and possible sanctions

that can be applied.

Box 11.

Returning Officers who did not submit accounts for the 2014 European Parliamentary election on time, without prior agreement, will not be given a 75% advance for the 2015 General

Election. Instead, they will receive 65% to encourage compliance with the legislative deadline.

29

Further advances and Form D

7.5 Further advances to ROs can be made in exceptional cases. ROs who need a further

advance must submit a special application with supporting evidence. A breakdown of

costs, payments made so far and copies of invoices awaiting payments will need to be

provided as evidence - along with an explanation for the extra need. The RO will need

to complete Form D for this process. The form requires confirmation that you have

read and understood this guidance and the conditions upon which advances are

made.

7.6 If agreed, a further 15% of the overall MRA will be granted.

7.7 The ECU will deal with applications for further advances as promptly as possible if they

are alerted to the submission of the application and it is accompanied by relevant and

correct supporting documentation.

7.8 The deadline for the receipt of applications for further advances is 7 June 2015, one

month after the date of the election. If there is a need for further funds after the date of

poll, the RO is encouraged to submit the full claim in order for the account to be

settled and the balance paid. ECU should be warned of any outstanding and unpaid

invoices. The application of an advance post election will be considered in light of

scrutiny levels applied to accounts. Applications will be considered on merit but it is

unlikely that any application for those areas on the lowest scrutiny level will be

approved.

Use of advances

7.9 Advances for the UK Parliamentary election must not be used to offset payments in

respect of any other elections such as local elections or referendums. They must only

be used for expenses in relation to the 2015 UK Parliamentary election.

30

8. Making a claim

Time limits

8.1 The Accounts Regulations state that accounts must be submitted within six months

from the day on which the election result is declared. The statutory deadline changed

in 2014 from eight months to six because:

● It is good practice to account of expenditure promptly while details are still fresh in the

mind;

● It ensures public funds are accounted for properly and audited within a reasonable

time and gives those completing them adequate time to do so;

● It provides the relevant Accounting Officer (the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet

Office and the Director of the Scotland Office), the National Audit Office, HM Treasury

and others who have an interest in seeing that public finances are spent properly, with

an opportunity to examine them;

● It allows for lessons to be learned and adjustments to be made before the next round

of elections; and

● The process is more open and transparent, allowing for the public to be assured that

elections are conducted and paid for correctly

8.2 Missing the deadline results in these aims not being met. The overall accounts cannot

be prepared and submitted fully by the Cabinet Office or Scotland Office. Any failure

would also leave Cabinet Office/Scotland Office as well as the responsible ROs open to

criticism from the NAO and other interested parties.

8.3 Reminders will be sent via ECU at set intervals and at least six weeks before the

deadline in November. As a general rule, Cabinet Office/Scotland Office will refuse to

consider claims or accounts that arrive too late and will look to impose financial

sanctions for non-compliance.

Extending time limits to submit accounts

8.4 If the RO has a valid reason s/he can apply to the ECU for an extension of time for

submitting the whole account. It is no longer possible to submit an incomplete

account. However they must do this at least 2 weeks before the deadline in November.

The RO will need to give the reason for the delay and the anticipated date that the

accounts will be submitted.

31

8.5 It will be for the relevant Accounting Officer to decide whether the reason for delay is

satisfactory and whether the proposed date for submission of completed accounts is

reasonable. S/he can require completed accounts to be submitted at an earlier date if

s/he is not satisfied with the reasons.

Box 12.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Where a RO fails to submit an account by the deadline or any agreed extension the Cabinet

Office will regard the monies as not being accounted for and may require the immediate return of the full advance.

Accounting for combination

8.6 Where two or more polls are combined, the costs attributable to the various electoral

events need to be apportioned appropriately. For instance, where three polls are

taking place in combination - the costs of any combined elements will need to be

apportioned and divided by three. Where there are four polls, shared and divided by

four etc.

8.7 Please explain clearly on all the forms how costs have been calculated with regards to

the specific combination of elections. Advice is given under the various form headings

regarding costs attributable to combination with instructions on how they should be

apportioned.

8.8 Where a poll is taking place in only part of an area where another poll is taking place,

costs will need to be apportioned in respect only of that area under combination. You

must identify in your accounts and apportion correctly the elements of combined

costs.

Box 13.

PARISH ELECTIONS AND COMBINATION

Parish elections have not been factored in as part of the funding allocations due to the

uncertainty around whether these will be contested. Where parish elections have been

contested, please apportion the shared costs as appropriate and make clear in the forms what

has been contested and combined in the relevant constituency.

32

Form of claim

8.9 The forms are available electronically from ECU. Forms A to D need to be submitted in

hard copy as these require original signatures. Some forms will require additional

supporting documentation depending on the scrutiny category except for those listed

on page 19. ROs will need to complete one set of forms for each constituency for

which they are responsible. All forms must be completed for each constituency except

for Forms B and D which are only needed for the appointment of deputies or further

advances. There will be separate Guidance Notes issued on how to complete the

forms.

Box 14.

Form A Summary of accounts - hard copy required

Form B Appointment of deputies with full powers - hard copy required

Form C Bank account details - hard copy required

Form D Application for further advance - hard copy required

Form E RO’s services

Form F Polling station costs

Form G Postal voting costs

Form H Poll card costs

Form I Count costs

Form J Other costs

Form K Forfeited deposits

Form L Transparency of staff costs

Over and under spending

8.10 The overall MRA set out in the Charges Order represents a figure that has been

calculated using previous actual spend data and is what the Government considers to

be a reasonable amount to run the election. It is not a target to aim for and you should

not feel the need to spend all of the money that has been allocated.

33

8.11 The funding system now provides flexibility for you to manage the amount allocated

and account for it accordingly. We expect, therefore, this flexibility to offer

opportunities for realising value for money savings where possible.

8.12 We recognise there may be occasions when particular functions will cost more than

expected due to an unexpected or special circumstance e.g. multiple recounts. Where

these extra costs are unavoidable, unexpected, necessary for the efficient and effective

running of the poll and their cost cannot be absorbed by savings elsewhere, there is

flexibility for the consideration of additional funds being made available.

8.13 The Minister has discretion to authorise the payment of more than the overall

maximum recoverable amount in a particular case, but only if it was reasonable for the

RO to incur the expenditure and if the charges themselves were reasonable. You

should not assume that this discretion will be automatically exercised for any

overspend.

8.14 We do not require ROs to inform the ECU of any anticipated underspend.

8.15 If there are special circumstances that you think may require extra funding you should

make the ECU or relevant Cabinet Office officials aware as soon as possible ahead of

the election. You should do this preferably before the expenditure has been incurred,

but if that is not possible then as soon as is practicable.

8.16 Where such spending has been made without prior notification in advance or as soon

as is practicable after the event, the Minister reserves the right to refuse

reimbursement.

Submitting your claim

8.17 Electronic versions of the forms are available from ECU and should be used to submit

your claim. Only if it is not possible to use that format should hard copy, paper

versions be submitted.

8.18 Accounts should be submitted to the ECU within the deadline by e-mail and / or by

post. The ECU will acknowledge receipt of your accounts within five working days.

8.19 If you do not receive an acknowledgement within that time, you should check that the

message or the accounts have arrived safely. It is your responsibility to ensure that the

34

accounts are submitted – you should not assume that they have arrived in the

absence of an acknowledgement.

Checking your claim and reconciliation

8.20 The ECU will examine the claims submitted to them in the order in which they are

received and as soon as possible after receipt. However, where a large number of

claims are received simultaneously, delays are likely to occur.

8.21 ROs in the plain accounts category are strongly encouraged to submit their claims as

early as possible. There is less work to do on these claims and getting them settled

early means more complete claims received later can also be dealt with in a more

timely fashion.

Using data to inform future allocations

8.22 Figures from settled claims will be used to inform funding of future polls, e.g. the 2020

UK Parliamentary election.

8.23 It may be that, where anomalies or exceptional payments are identified, we will

approach ROs for further information. You should therefore be prepared to provide

that information, when requested.

Settlement of accounts

8.24 Once the accounts have been cleared, the ECU will arrange for any balance payments

to be made, either by requesting reimbursement of funds from ROs, or by arranging for

the payment of whatever is due to them after deduction of any advance payments.

Payment will be made by ECU direct to the notified bank account and no

acknowledgement of receipt will be required from the RO.

35

9. General advice on what you can claim

Authorisation from ECU

9.1 We specifically require you to contact the Cabinet Office via ECU to request approval

before you incur any costs in the categories listed in the box below. We recommend

you contact ECU before committing to the expenditure if you have any uncertainty as

to whether you can claim.

Box 15.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

SPECIFIC APPROVAL IS NEEDED FROM CABINET OFFICE FOR:

● The use of consultants for the delivery of the poll;

● Using an internal bookkeeper to check/improve the quality of your claim;

● Any “novel items” of equipment (which you intend to use for the poll); and

● For purchasing novel IT goods and services.

We will not pay these costs unless prior agreement has been obtained.

Seeking value for money

9.2 Although ROs act in a statutorily independent capacity, we do not see any issues with

the use of existing local authority frameworks / contracts where these achieve value

for money.

9.3 While we recognise that ROs may prefer to use trusted service providers, we also

expect ROs to use the most cost efficient option available. For items such as printing

and postage / delivery, this may involve a change in supplier in order to benefit from

lower rates or a greater discount.

9.4 We understand that using council contracts and services can be cost-effective, it can

also be more expensive in some instances. Where the latter is the case, the

independent RO should look for better value for money from other suppliers.

36

Accounting for Equipment

9.5 The cost of purchasing equipment (e.g. polling booths, ballot boxes and other ‘capital’

items) is to be divided by the number of scheduled polls known about at the time of

purchase that will occur in the lifetime of the equipment. Where any proportion of the

cost is for a poll paid for by the Consolidated Fund, that proportion is to be requested

in the claim made for that poll. If any additional polls are introduced during the

lifetime of the equipment (for instance, council and parish by-elections,

neighbourhood planning and council tax referendums, Parliamentary by-elections,

local authority governance referendums, national referendums) these will have no

effect on the initial apportionment for payments that have been agreed. Overall, a

local authority will be likely to benefit from that calculation as they will be more likely

to have unscheduled local polls and any residual scrap value will sit with the local

authority.

Box 16.

EXAMPLE

Life of equipment = 5 years

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Local election Local election European Parliamentary

1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4

If an item of equipment lasts five years and during those five years there were scheduled to be

local elections in two years, a Parliamentary election and a European election, the cost would

be a quarter for each of those polls to be claimed back from the relevant source of funding. Therefore, in Year 4, the RO would be entitled to claim back from the Consolidated Fund a ¼ of

the total cost and then another ¼ for Year 5.

9.6 In order to monitor how this system works we will need each RO to notify us of the

purchase of equipment and the calculation as to number of polls over the lifetime of

the product so that we can ensure we are paying the relevant amount and when any

future expenditure on equipment will be due.

37

Election management software

9.7 Electoral management software systems now underpin a number of electoral

processes, not just registration, including Postal Vote Identifier checking. ROs may

therefore claim the relevant percentage costs of the appropriate licences and

maintenance contracts for the relevant elements of such systems e.g. PVI checking, in

the years in which a relevant poll (i.e. funded from the Consolidated Fund) occurs.

Box 17.

Elements associated with other functions – such as registration – must be separated out since

their costs cannot be reimbursed as an expense of the election.

9.8 Where any new or novel IT process that incurs a cost is being introduced, it should be

done to meet a particular need or to save costs. There have been instances where IT

based processes have been introduced that were unnecessary and have increased

costs. CO will not reimburse the cost of any such new system beyond what the costs of

any necessary process would have been.

Mobile phones

9.9 There are very few people now who do not own a mobile phone and there should be

minimal necessity to hire mobile phones for anyone working on an election. Claims

may be paid for call charges provided these have been incurred wholly and exclusively

for the purpose of the UK Parliamentary election. The majority of phones now have

inclusive contracts for calls and texts and we are seeing a significant decline in the

claims in this area. Over time we envisage that this section will become unnecessary

but at present it is acceptable for people to be reimbursed for call costs where that is

appropriate.

Acceptable and unacceptable items

9.10 Although this system of assessing and accounting for election expenses is intended to

provide greater flexibility and reduce the level of central control on your spending, that

does not mean that you are free to spend without constraint. You are still required to

justify that the expenditure was necessary for the efficient and effective running of the

UK Parliamentary election.

38

9.11 That means that we are not required to reimburse you for charges which fall outside of

that definition. Neither are we empowered to reimburse extra spending unless it was

necessary for the expenditure to be incurred and the amount was reasonable.

9.12 You should bear in mind that your accounts will be subject to scrutiny by us, the ECU,

and that following publication of the data, they may well also be subject to scrutiny by

others who are taking an increasing interest in this area. They may question payments

which could be judged as unlawful. We must therefore ensure that we have legal

authority to make payments and that no unlawful payments are authorised.

9.13 The following are examples of expenditure, which have in the past not been

considered as a necessary expense for the effective and efficient conduct of the

election. Therefore these have not been reimbursed under the Charges Order.

Reimbursement for such items will continue to be refused.

Box 18.

This is not an exhaustive list and the Cabinet Office will always have discretion on purchases

considered unnecessary for the effective and efficient running of the poll

Box 19.

Purchase of mobile telephones

Additional permanent lighting inside or outside polling places or count centres unless it

can be justified on value for money grounds (reasonable claims for temporary lighting

may be considered)

Electric kettles for use in polling stations

First aid kits

Coverings for count tables

Floor covering at count or verification centres

Floral / shrub or other decoration at count centres or for any stage of the polling

process

Refreshments for the media, candidates, party agents, security personnel or police at

the count or verification centres. Refreshments at postal vote issue and opening

Loss of revenue at venues, such as leisure centres, hired as count or verification centres,

including bar or restaurant takings, car parking fees, membership subscriptions,

39

payment of wages for centre staff

Payment for employment of health and safety officers to undertake checks of premises

and equipment

Photographs or photographers for recording any part of the election process

Interpreters, such as in providing specialist translation services at polling stations or the

count

Standby costs (polling staff, venue, generators etc.)

Consultancy fees (without prior agreement)

Rates of pay which are in excess of the rate for the job

Payments for the role of Deputy RO (or Deputy Officer ‘fees’); project manager, elections office manager or equivalents.

Purchase of flat screen televisions, audio visual equipment, Bluetooth wristbands, mobile phone signal boosters, Wi-Fi routers or other similar items

Dedicated call centre to answer election queries

Supervision of recovery of equipment from storage

Supervision and repair of polling equipment including painting

Photography for signage/count venue

Flags or bunting at polling stations

Printed banners etc. for count centres

Resurfacing of roads

Routine hotel accommodation (such expenditure has previously been accepted only in

relation to ROs or deputy ROs on the night of the election as a result of travel distance or for health and safety reasons, e.g. finishing late at the verification and count)

Taxi costs

T-shirts/sweatshirts for the count staff

40

Sweeps

9.14 Funding for Royal Mail sweeps will be made available for the 2015 General Election.

The cost of holding the sweep itself has been negotiated and will be paid for

collectively by one Returning Officer on behalf of all ROs to enable an economy of

scale. Where a Royal Mail postal vote product licence is not already used by the RO

and would only be required for the purpose of the sweep, the full cost of that licence

can be claimed. Where a RO already obtains a Royal Mail postal vote product licence

for use with other products, then half of the cost of that licence can be claimed.

Contingency planning

9.15 The Electoral Commission’s guidance sets out the need to plan for contingencies and

gives examples of areas to consider. While it gives examples, it does not require an RO

to take any specific action in terms of expenditure unlike some other

recommendations it makes. However, the guidance always provides for ROs to take a

different course based on consideration of their local area and previous experiences.

9.16 Risk and contingency planning to ensure you can deliver a successful election should

be undertaken with the level of risk, likelihood and proportionality in mind. Seeking to

cover for every possible eventuality will not be supported in reimbursement on claims.

It is possible to have standby provisions that avoid or minimise expense and this

should be borne in mind when considering options.

Staff costs

9.17 We recognise that people work hard in preparing for and delivering elections. We think

it is right that staff should be reimbursed for the work that they do, considering that

staff are often working additional hours in order to ensure successful outcomes. We

also recognise that people want to utilise their experienced and responsible staff for

certain activities to ensure successful delivery of elections. That said, we are

conscious from some previous claims that some areas appear to reimburse people

without a clear explanation as to what it is they have done and/or at rates which

appear to be a fee which does not exist, e.g. for deputies, or which appear to be

excessive in relation to the task undertaken.

9.18 There is a need to be clear and transparent in setting out what has been paid to

anyone working on an election. As noted previously, everyone needs to act

41

responsibly with regard to moving to a lighter touch scrutiny process, in order to avoid

us having to reverse the process and move back to increased scrutiny.

9.19 One of the most significant areas of enquiry on claims concerns staff payments. Where

staff are working outside office hours on matters relating to the poll, such as

undertaking the verification or the count or other work, it is clear that they are not

already being paid to do so in some way. However, where people undertaking tasks

such as postal vote opening during the course of the working day, it is less clear where

this should be funded from. There is significant disparity between ROs in how they

approach this and how much they claim for such activities.

9.20 Some authorities treat this as an additional task and continue to pay staff their salary

while also paying additional monies from the Consolidated Fund. Others regard it as

part of the work they expect their employees to do or require them to ‘clock off’ for

that period so that they are not being paid by the local authority as well as by the RO.

9.21 Regardless of the approach taken, any reimbursement from Consolidated Fund

monies must be at a rate proportionate to the task undertaken. We will not sanction

payments based upon the grade of the officer undertaking the work. For example, if

there are five people of different grades undertaking postal vote opening, or where

there are supervisors essentially doing the same job, we would expect similar rates to

be paid

9.22 It is clear in terms of polling station staff that monies are made available to pay people

for the work undertaken in polling stations during the course of the day. It is currently

the case that different authorities take different approaches to granting leave and time

off where local authority staff are undertaking those tasks. This will be reviewed

following the General Election 2015.

42

Outsourced services

9.23 Care should be taken when outsourcing any element of the election process that the

costs incurred are not increased from those that would be incurred were the service

provided internally. While ROs may incur costs across the various heads as necessary

and these are not constrained by any set amounts for those heads - we will question

any element of a claim which greatly exceeds the average or which we consider is

above that which is necessary for the efficient and effective running of the election.

Reducing the impact on normal council services is not, in itself, sufficient justification

for outsourcing a service.

9.24 It is common for ROs to outsource elements of parts or all of the postal voting process.

While this is perfectly acceptable, any claim must only reflect what is necessary for the

essential, efficient and effective running of the service and should not exceed any cost

of providing the same service internally. We will, therefore, not fund any costs for any

special technology or computer aided services over and above that which we consider

necessary. This includes services which provide additional or special levels of

managed services.

9.25 When claiming for any costs in respect of a managed ballot service you should ensure

that detailed breakdowns are provided for all elements of the service, and ensure that

your claim reflects only those essential costs. Contractors should not object to this,

but if there are any questions, you should point out that one of the aims of the new

system is to introduce more transparency to the process of funding elections. You as

the customer, the Government as the funding source, and the public who ultimately

pay for it, have a right to know what each element of the process has cost.

9.26 Across all expenditure you should be able to demonstrate that you are achieving value

for money. Where elements of a claim exceed that which is necessary for the efficient

and effective running of the General Election we may refuse to pay for all or part of

those additional elements. In order to avoid paying for a service which will not be

reimbursed, we strongly advise you to contact the Cabinet Office to seek permission

via ECU ahead of the election.

Claiming for Tax (VAT and income tax)

9.27 Cabinet Office is unable to reclaim Value Added Tax (VAT) on General Election

expenses. You should, therefore, include VAT in all your expenses returns. All the

43

assessments in the above chapters have been made on the basis that VAT is included,

so allowance for inclusive VAT has already been made.

9.28 Different VAT regimes apply to local and central Government. Local authorities can

recover VAT in respect of statutory services under s33 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.

Central Government departments fall within s.41 of that Act and may only recover VAT

where it is in relation to a business activity or where the VAT is incurred in respect of

certain contracted-out services listed in the Treasury contracted-out services directive.

9.29 Local authorities may therefore wish to make claims for the return of VAT on elements

of expenditure which are attributable to that local authority. This is, however, an issue

for discussion between the local authority and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

(HMRC) and not something on which CO or ECU can advise.

Tax and staff

9.30 All figures in your accounts relating to staff payments should be shown as gross, not

net, of income tax. Any questions on income tax matters should be made to the local

Inspector of Taxes who handles the PAYE for the relevant local authority.

9.31 In some areas, demands for interest payments have been made after only a few weeks

delay; in other areas agreements have been reached to delay payment until, for

instance, the end of the tax year without any penalty.

9.32 ROs are urged to make contact with their local tax authorities before the election to

ensure that they are clear about what is acceptable practice in that area. Ideally, all

due income tax should be paid to HMRC as soon as possible after the poll to avoid the

risk of incurring any interest payments. Failing that, agreements should be reached

with the relevant local tax office to ensure that realistic deadlines are set which also

avoid that risk.

9.33 In any event, we will not pay any interest payments incurred because of late payment

of due tax. ROs must, therefore, ensure that they make tax payments on time so that

they do not incur such costs.

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Real Time Information (RTI) Migration

9.34 Real Time Information (RTI) took effect in 2014 and new tax arrangements change the

duties required of all employers, requiring them to report on the payments made and

relevant tax status for each of their employees as the payments are made (rather than

being able to defer such reporting and payment of tax, as has previously been the

case).

9.35 This will have an impact on ROs and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) who employ

staff, whether existing Local Authority (LA) staff or casual staff, who assist at elections

staffing polling stations and count centres or undertake other electoral duties

including canvassers for registration work.

9.36 HMRC has provided guidance on RTI which can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/real-time-information-improving-the-

operation-of-pay-as-you-earn.

9.37 HMRC has said that there is no additional funding available for implementation of this

change for any employer. DCLG colleagues have recognised the changes to taxable

arrangements as something which does not meet the new burdens principle and

which, therefore, should be accommodated within existing funding.

9.38 Cabinet Office has no additional funding available for this change. As it is not a

consequence of any national poll, HMRC takes the view that any transitional costs to

reach RTI compliance should be a matter for local authorities given the system will

need to be in place for local elections in any event.

Claiming for National Insurance

9.39 National insurance contributions are not payable in respect of employment at any UK

election.

9.40 The introduction of RTI has no bearing on National Insurance Contribution

liabilities. Although the fees received by ROs and their staff for duties performed at

parliamentary and local elections are chargeable to tax as employment income, these

fees are specifically excluded from National Insurance contributions liability by the

provisions of the Social Security (Categorisation of Earners) Regulations 1978, as

amended.

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Employment of staff – transparency

9.41 Auditing bodies are increasingly paying attention to election accounts and closely

scrutinising payments made to staff. One issue that could raise concern is that of

employment by the RO or his or her deputies of close family and for friends. While

there is no bar on such employment, it is important that the nature of duties of any

such staff are clearly itemised and all payments accounted for so that they are

completely transparent.

9.42 Not only will claims be queried by Cabinet Office where there is no clear explanation of

duties performed in respect of receipt of a fee, but auditors may well identify such

occurrences and seek to make further enquiries.

9.43 ROs should be aware that no fee is payable for their duties other than within the

overall maximum amount available for their services. They should not therefore be in

receipt of separate payment for other duties such as supervision of postal vote issue or

opening as any such duty is deemed to be included in the overall payment for their

services. Any claims in respect of other such duties will not be met except for the

provision of training.

9.44 Any provision of training must be at a proportionate cost in relation to other training

and cannot be claimed at excessive rates.

Superannuation on staff payments

9.45 In accordance with section 29(6) of the Representation of the People Act 1983, a

Returning Officer’s charges at a parliamentary election may include claims in respect

of any increase in superannuation contributions that are required to be paid by a local

authority as a result of any fee paid to a person employed on electoral duties. Claims

may be made for both Returning Officers and for others carrying out electoral duties at

the election who fall within section 29(6).

9.46 Before making a claim for the reimbursement of superannuation payments, Returning

Officers or any other person making a claim must satisfy themselves that any

superannuation payments to which they are entitled:

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● Would have been required to be increased by the local authority as a result of a fee

paid, and

● That such a payment either has been made by the authority, or would have been

made but for a claim being made under section 29(6).

9.47 We cannot advise on a particular individual’s entitlement to such payments, as this

will depend on their conditions of employment and the terms of their superannuation

arrangements. If there is any doubt as to a person’s entitlement to increased

superannuation payments, written confirmation should be sought from the authority

and a copy submitted with your claim.

Indemnity

9.48 ROs should make their own arrangements to insure themselves against any risks they

face in taking forward their statutory duties at local and UK Parliamentary elections.

The cover obtained usually forms part of the local authorities’ own insurance

arrangements and ROs should check what cover they have in place.

9.49 While the local authority insurance will cover certain risks, they may also be liable for

claims of a type not covered by its existing insurance policies. In light of this, the

Government provides ROs with a specific indemnity for UK Parliamentary elections to

supplement the insurance policies that are arranged locally. However, this only comes

into force where existing insurance cover has been exhausted by the RO.

9.50 Insurance policy ‘excess’ payments are not covered by the Government indemnity.