The Acting Returning Officer Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales
The Returning Officer Local Government Areas in England and Wales
The Electoral Registration Officer District and London Boroughs in England And Wales
C: Regulation 47, Representation of the People Regulations 2001
D: Rolling Registration - Compensation
The Elections Act 2001 received Royal Assent on 10 April 2001. It will soon be available on the HMSO website. Below is a summary of the provisions of the Act, together with some notes on how it may affect electoral administrators.
2. The principal provision of the Act is the postponement of any local government election which was due to take place in England and Wales on 3rd May 2001 to 7th June 2001 (section 1(1)). It also postpones any local government by-election which was due to take place between 3rd May 2001 and 6th June inclusive, also to 7th June (section 1(2)). Now that the Act has received Royal Assent, any action relating to the elections on 3rd May should be discontinued and electoral administrators should begin to make preparations for a poll on 7th June.
3. Candidates who were validly nominated for 3rd May elections are not required to be nominated again for the elections on 7th June (section 1(3)). Their nominations can be carried forward and will remain valid for 7th June. Any subsequent change in status of subscribers for 3rd May nominations is irrelevant in this context; if they were accepted as valid for 3rd May, they must be accepted as valid for 7th June.
4. The timetable for the elections on 7th June is that set by the Local Elections (Principal Areas) Rules 1986. It was attached as annex A to RPA circular 440 on 3rd April 2001. The deadline for new nominations is therefore noon on Thursday 10th May.
5. Since the Act has received Royal Assent, the facility for inspection of nomination papers (provided for by Rule 9 of the Local Elections (Principal Areas) Rules 1986) relating to the elections on 3rd May which has been available since 3rd April should be withdrawn. Inspection of nomination papers will not now be possible until after close of nominations on 10th May.
6. The Act provides that any declarations for the return of a candidate made as a result of an uncontested election shall have no effect (section 1(4)). Any candidate in this position should be made aware that this is the case. They should also be informed that their nomination for that seat remains valid for the 7th June election, should they wish it to continue. Should the seat remain uncontested, they can be declared returned once again (section 1(5))
7. In principal areas where there is no ordinary election this year, the Act extends the available time for annual council meetings to take place into June so that they can take place after any by-elections to fill casual vacancies have occurred (section 1(6)).
8. Because candidates may already have spent money on their campaigns for 3rd May and because the campaign period has now been extended, the Act provides for their expenses limits to be increased by 50% (section 1(7)).
9. The Act provides for the local elections in Northern Ireland which were due to take place on 16th May also to be postponed until 7th June. Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Act, together with the whole of the Schedule to the Act, covers the arrangements for Northern Ireland. Section 5 of the Act contains financial provisions for the Northern Ireland elections.
10. Section 6 of the Act provides for a scheme of compensation to be set up for local authorities and for candidates who have incurred extra expenditure as a result of any provision of the Act. There is agreement that compensation should be made available to local authorities to cover unavoidable additional costs directly attributable to postponement. Compensation will not extend to costs which have arisen as a result of foot and mouth disease. We are in discussion with the political parties, with colleagues in the Treasury and in DETR, as well as with the Local Government Association, the AEA and SOLACE to work out the details of such a scheme. Further information will be available in due course.
11. Although the Act provides for it, the government does not intend to take the powers to make compensation generally available to candidates of registered political parties. In debates on the Bill, the consensus was that such compensation was not appropriate. There may be cases where independent candidates could have a claim for compensation for significant and unavoidable loss as a result of postponement. Again, we are consulting on this issue and further details will be available later.
12. The Act contains at section 7 powers to make consequential, transitional or supplemental provisions by statutory instrument, subject to negative resolution procedures. The intention is to use this power to extend the statutory period in which annual meetings of Police and Fire Authorities can take place. This will be a similar provision – made for similar reasons - to that at section 1(6).
13. Any enquiries about this part of the circular should be directed to:
Malcolm Rawlings 020 7944 8148
John Collins 020 7944 8150
Tony Chilton 020 7944 8149.
14. We have concluded that we need to revise the advice given in RPA circular 440 about absent voting on 7th June. As some electoral administrators have pointed out, the Act contains no specific provision enabling applications for absent votes for 3rd May only to be regarded as applications for 7th June. In some cases, this may result in postal votes going to the wrong address (for instance, where someone on holiday on 3rd May requested their postal vote to go to their holiday address, but was back home by 7th June). But it also applies to applications for proxy votes. Absent votes requested for the particular election on 3rd May cannot be assumed to be required on 7th June.
15. Electoral administrators are therefore encouraged to write to all electors who have made applications for an absent vote for a particular election on 3rd May, to check whether they still require an absent vote for 7th June. They should check that the address to which postal voting papers should be sent is correct and that the reason given for a proxy vote application is still valid. Clearly, those who have long-term absent voting arrangements do not need to be contacted. Only those who have applied for 3rd May only will need to be asked for clarification. Confirmation from an elector that they would like the application for a postal vote they made in relation to 3rd May to apply to the elections on 7th June can be taken to constitute an application as long as it is in writing and is signed and dated. No further application form will need to be completed unless the details relating to the application have changed. Applicants for proxy votes should be asked to confirm the reason for their application.
16. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to Tony Chilton on 020 2944 8149.
17. During debates in the House of Lords on the Elections Act 2001, concern was expressed about the effect of the deficiency in regulation 47 of the RPR Regulations 2001. The regulation fails specifically to provide for the free supply, on request, to MPs, MEPs, councillors, political parties and candidates of the monthly updates to the registers made under rolling registration, even though it was the intention to do so. This causes difficulty for political parties in particular, because they are unable to check whether donations are from permissible donors, as required under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. A number of electoral administrators have already pointed out this deficiency, and although some interpret the regulation in a way which allows them to supply the updates, many others have refused to do so.
18. It was the intention to amend this deficiency at the same time as the regulations under section 9 of the Representation of the People Act 2000 were made later this year. However, because of the concern expressed in the House of Lords, ministers have undertaken to introduce if possible a short amending Regulation just after Easter to take care of this particular problem. A draft is therefore being prepared and will be available on the HMSO website soon after it is laid before Parliament. This will be soon after Parliament returns from the Easter break. A further RPA circular will be issued when it is passed.
19. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to Tony Chilton on 020 7944 8149.
20. On 14th February I sent an urgent message about the deadline for applications for registration in March (to appear on the April list of amendments). Our advice about the cut-off date for registration had been wrong. The 16th March date was more accurately 12th March. We acknowledged that we made a mistake and we accepted that the Home Office should be liable for reasonable, additional expenses which had been incurred by local authorities in following our advice. For instance, some authorities printed additional publicity leaflets containing the wrong date.
21. Any local authority which wishes to make a claim should send details to:
Samantha Islam
Constitutional Unit
Home Office
Room 1371
Queen Anne’s Gate
London SW1A 9AT
020 7273 3416
e-mail: Samatha.Islam@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.
Your claim should be in the form of an invoice, setting out the amount claimed, which should be itemised where necessary. Suitable supporting documentation confirming the amounts expended should also be included where it is available. Please include the address and postcode of the local authority and the telephone number of a suitable official who can be contacted. Also include bank details: the account name and number, sort code, and the name and address of the bank to which the payment is to be made.
22. Only expenditure that is strictly and directly related to the mistaken date of 16th March should be included, such as additional costs relating to materials, postage and reprinting. Additional staff costs will not be considered.
23. Claims will be processed as quickly as possible. Payments will be made direct to bank accounts and will take up to 26 days from point of processing in the Elections Section.
24. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to:
Tony Chilton 020 7944 8149
Malcolm Rawlings 020 7944 8148