The Acting Returning Officer Parliamentary Constituencies in England and
Wales 27 April 2001
The Returning Officer Local Government Areas in England and Wales
The Electoral Registration Officer District and London Boroughs in England and Wales
A. Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers' Charges) order 2001
B: Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment)) Regulations 2001
C: Orders Under Section 7 of the Elections Act 2001
D: British Sign Language Video
E: Discounts for Eelectoral Equipment and Stationery
1. The Treasury has agreed to a re-structured and uprated Returning Officers’
Charges Order. Arrangements are being made for the Order to be signed and
it will be available on the HMSO
website soon after it is made. Until then, a draft copy is available
on the Home Office website.
2. The new Order is based on the previous Order – the Parliamentary
Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 1997 (SI 1997/1034) –
though several changes have been made. Apart from the changes to the levels
of the amounts recoverable, there are a number of other changes to the structure
of the Order. The main points of difference are summarised below. Unless
otherwise made clear, references in brackets are to the relevant paragraphs
in the schedules to the Orders
3. The changes have been made after consultation with the Association of Electoral Administrators. Some of their suggestions are reflected in the Order, particularly those relating to re-structuring which are aimed at simplifying the process. The inflation rate since 1997 is between 10% and 11%.
4. The maximum recoverable amounts for an uncontested election (article
2(3) of both Orders) have been increased by the rate of inflation.
5. This part of the Order has been simplified. The element for the personal
fee (A1(2) in the 1997 Order) has been combined with the graduated elements
for constituency size (A1(3) in the 1997 Order) and the additions for postal
votes (A2(2) and (3) in the 1997 Order). The maximum recoverable amount
has been increased to a flat rate of £2,000 to cover all these elements
(A1 in the 2001 Order). For a constituency of 70,000 voters with a postal
vote uptake of 10%, a returning officer would be entitled to a maximum recoverable
amount of £1,720.89 at 1997 rates. This therefore represents an increase
of over 16%.
6. The additional fee for a combined poll (A2 in the 2001 Order) has been
increased to £300 (£265.44 at A1(5) in the 1997 Order). This
represents an increase of more than 13%.
7. The reductions for returning officers who are responsible for multiple constituencies have been increased by inflation and then rounded to the nearest convenient whole figure. For those who have more than 3 but fewer than 6 constituencies (A3(a) in the 2001 Order) the figure is now £250 (£241.03 at A1(4)(a) in the 1997 Order); an increase of 3.7%. For those who have more than 6 constituencies (A1(4)(b) in the 1997 Order), the figure is now £400 (£356.78 at A1(4)(b) in the 1997 Order), an increase of 12%.
8. This part of the Order has also been simplified, but additions have
also been made to reflect difficulties in recruitment in certain areas and
to reflect current practice. Increases in excess of inflation have also
been made to help attract staff of sufficient calibre, particularly for
Presiding Officers
.
9. The maximum recoverable amount for Presiding Officers (B1(1) in the 2001
Order) has been increased to £135 (£110.70 at B1(2) in the 1997
Order), an increase of 22%. For Poll Clerks (B2(1) in the 2001 Order), the
amount has been increased to £80 (£70 at B2(2) in the 1997 Order),
an increase of 14.3%. The additional amounts for combined polls have been
increased by more than the rate of inflation from £27.68 (B1(5) in
the 1997 Order) to £35 (B1(5) in the 2001 Order) for Presiding Officers
and from £17.50 (B2(4) in the 1997 Order) to £20 (B2(4) in the
2001 Order) for Poll Clerks. These increases amount to 26.4% and 14.3% respectively.
The supplement paid to a Presiding Officer in charge at a polling place
where there is more than one polling station has been increased from £6.74
(B1(4) in the 1997 Order) to £7.50 (B1(4) in the 2001 Order), an increase
of 11.3%.
10. The supplement for London staff has been increased from £61.93 (B1(3) and B2(3) in the 1997 Order) to £70 (B1(2) and B2(2) in the 2001 Order) for both Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks. This represents an increase of 13%. In addition, in recognition of the difficulties this supplement places upon recruitment on the margins of London, we have introduced a further supplement for those constituencies bordering the London Boroughs. There are 17 of these, and in those constituencies a supplement of £35 will be payable to both Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks (B1(3) and B2(3) in the 2001 Order).
11. The maximum recoverable amounts for the issue of poll cards (B3(2) in the 1997 Order); for the employment of clerical assistance and for the count staff (B4(2) in the 1997 Order); for larger electorates (B4(3) in the 1997 Order); and for the issue of postal votes (B4(4) in the 1997 Order) have been combined in the 2001 Order at a flat rate of £9,500 (B3(1) in the 2001 Order). This figure will also cover the employment of additional Presiding Officers, also known as Polling Station Inspectors, where they are thought to be necessary.
12. In a constituency of 70,000 electors with a 10% postal vote take-up, the maximum recoverable amount for these elements at 1997 rates would be £8,204.65. The new rate represents an increase on this figure of 15.8%.
13. The maximum recoverable amount for each recount has been increased from £350.79 (B4(5) in the 1997 Order) to £450 (B3(2) in the 2001 Order), an increase of more than 28%. This recognises the additional difficulty of retaining staff at unsocial hours.
14. The maximum recoverable amount for each constituency in the event of a combined poll has been increased from £1,050.88 (B4(6) in the 1997 Order) to £1,300 (B3(3) in the 2001 Order). This represents an increase of nearly 24%.
15. The only change in this part of the Order is the addition at C11 of
a provision to allow for the cost of producing the large version of the
ballot paper to be displayed in each polling station and the voting device
for the visually impaired. Further details of what will be allowable under
part C expenses will be provided (together with some indicative figures)
when the Returning Officers Expenses Guidance Notes are published by the
Home Office Elections Claims Unit.
16. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to John Collins
on 020 7944 8150or to Malcolm Rawlings on 020 7944 8148.
17. During the passage of the Elections Act 2001, the government gave undertakings
to address certain deficiencies in the Representation of the People (England
and Wales) Regulations 2001 (RPR 2001) as a matter of priority. The intention
was to deal with these matters as part of the amendment regulations bringing
into effect section 9 of the Representation of the People Act 2000 which
are to be published imminently in draft for consultation. They have, however,
been brought forward and will be dealt with separately. Draft amendment
regulations have therefore been laid and they should be passed by Parliament
within the next week to come into force on the day after the day they are
made. A copy
of the draft regulations is available on the HMSO site.
18. Regulation 3 of the Amendment Regulations amends the definition of "data" in Regulation 3(1) of the RPR 2001. That definition states that data has the same meaning as in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1988. But this definition includes all data, including data held other than electronically. In the context in which the term data is used these regulations, it applies only to electronically held data. Regulation 3 therefore clarifies that point.
19. Regulation 4 amends Regulation 47 of the RPR 2001, concerning the free supply, on request, of copies of the register and the list of overseas electors. It inserts a definition of the term "register" to allow for the free supply, on request, of monthly notices of amendment to the register, in addition to the revised register. This means that those covered by Regulation 47, principally MPs, MEPs, councillors, political parties and candidates, will be able to receive, if they request it, free copies of both the revised register when it is published, and each monthly update to the register when they are published.
20. Regulation 5 amends Regulations 53(1) and 54(1) of the RPR 2001, by substituting the word "particular" for the word "definite". This is simply to bring the wording into line with the wording in the text (as opposed to that in the heading) of paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Representation of the People Act 2000. Regulation 7 does the same job for Regulation 60(2), though the word substituted there is "defined", itself a misprint for "definite".
21. Regulation 6 amends regulation 56(5) of the RPR 2001, which concerns the closing dates for cancellation of absent vote arrangements. The existing regulation provides for differential closing dates for cancelling proxy and postal votes, but does not take account of postal proxies. It would allow an elector to ask for a proxy to be cancelled after postal voting papers had been sent out to the proxy. Regulation 6 therefore substitutes a common closing date for applications for removal from the postal or proxy lists, or cancellation of a proxy arrangement: 5:00pm on the eleventh working day before polling day.
22. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to Tony Chilton on 020 7944 2824, or Malcolm Rawlings on 020 7944 8148.
23. We do not know the date of the general election but a number of electoral administrators have asked what would be the effect on parish and community council elections which are due to be held on 7 June if the general election is called for that date.
24. Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act 1985 provides that, where a general election is held on the ordinary day for local elections in England and Wales (which this year is 7 June), any parish and community council elections due to be held on that day must be postponed for three weeks.
25. However, following consultation with SOLACE, the AEA and the National Association of Local Councils the Home Secretary has decided that should the general election be called for 7 June, an Order will be made under section 7 of the Elections Act 2001 to disapply section 16 for 2001.
26. The effect of this will be that any parish and community council elections due to be held on 7 June (whether ordinary elections or by-elections) will definitely go ahead on that date, irrespective of whether it is also the date of the general election, and preparations can be made accordingly.
27. An Order under section 7 of the Elections Act 2001 will shortly be laid before Parliament to postpone the last date by which police, fire and other joint authorities must hold their annual meetings. The new date will be 31 August 2001. The Order will also postpone the last date by which parish and community councils which do not have ordinary elections must hold their annual meetings to the end of June. These changes apply only in 2001.
28. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to John Collins on 020 7944 8150or to Malcolm Rawlings on 020 7944 8148.
29. Further to the order form that electoral administrators will have received
on 20th March for electoral registration and postal voting material, a British
Sign Language video is now available which brings together new information
on postal voting as well as revisiting the rolling registration material.
To order free copies of the video (ER6), please contact Prolog on 0870 241
4680 (telephone) or 0870 241 4786 (fax).
30. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to Soraya Mitchell
on 020 7273 2756 or Tony Chilton on 020 7944 8149
31. We are aware that electoral administrators are sometimes offered discounts when ordering electoral equipment. In the interests of obtaining the best possible value for taxpayers’ money we expect administrators to take maximum advantage of such offers and to seek the best deal they can. But all discounts should be shown openly on invoices and other documentation, and any benefit to the government passed on. Vouchers redeemable against future purchases are not acceptable, since there is no guarantee that they will be used for electoral equipment and the discount is hidden.
32. If electoral administrators are offered vouchers when purchasing electoral equipment, they should refuse to accept them and insist on an open discount shown on the invoice and traceable for accounting purposes.
33. Enquiries about this part of the circular should be made to John Collins on 020 7944 8150 or to Malcolm Rawlings on 020 7944 8148.
Yours sincerely
Rick Evans