The European Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ and Local Returning Officers’ Charges) (Great Britain and Gibraltar) Order 2019

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order provides for payments for services and expenses of returning officers and local returning officers in connection with the conduct of European Parliamentary elections in Great Britain and Gibraltar. It replaces the European Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ and Local Returning Officers’ Charges) (Great Britain and Gibraltar) Order 2014. This Order is made under regulation 15(1), (2) and (5) of the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/293), under which returning officers and local returning officers may recover their charges for services and expenses, provided they were necessarily rendered or incurred for the efficient and effective conduct of the election and the total does not exceed the overall maximum recoverable amount specified by the Minister for the Cabinet Office in an order. Regulation 15(2) also enables the Minister for the Cabinet Office to specify a maximum recoverable amount for particular services or expenses.

Articles 4 to 6 of, and Schedule 1 to, this Order specify the maximum amounts recoverable by returning officers. Article 4 deals with the overall maximum amount for an electoral region, article 5 with specified services and article 6 with specified expenses. Schedule 1 applies whether the poll is a stand-alone poll or a combined poll. The table in the Schedule lists, for each electoral region, the maximum recoverable amount for the specified services (column 2), the maximum recoverable amount for the specified expenses (column 3) and the overall maximum recoverable amount (column 4).

Article 7 to 9 of, and Schedules 2 and 3 to, this Order specify maximum amounts recoverable by local returning officers. Article 7 deals with the overall maximum amount for each local counting area, article 8 with specified services and article 9 with specified expenses. Schedule 2 applies to stand-alone polls and Schedule 3 applies where the election of a Member of the European Parliament in 2019 is to be taken together with a local government election or a mayoral election or a referendum on the governance arrangements for a local authority. The table in each of those Schedules lists for each local counting area, the maximum recoverable amount for the specified services (column 2), the maximum recoverable amount for the specified expenses (column 3) and the overall maximum recoverable amount (column 4).

In the case of an uncontested election, article 10 provides that articles 4 to 9 do not apply. Instead, the overall maximum recoverable amount is £1,750 for each local counting area and £350 for each electoral region.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument because no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.