Committee on Standards in Public Life: Review of the Electoral Commission
R11-16
Published January 2007
Response position and delivery status are recorded separately. Acceptance does not establish implementation.
Recommendation (the Committee's words)
The Electoral Commission should consider the level of funding provided for electoral administration as part of its monitoring and reporting on the performance of individual local authorities.
From: Committee on Standards in Public Life, Review of the Electoral Commission, January 2007
Government response
Government response (the government's words)
Currently funding arrangements are split. Funding for the running of national elections (i.e. Parliamentary and European Parliamentary) is provided centrally from the Ministry of Justice and Scotland Office to returning officers. Funding for the running of local elections and the maintenance of the electoral register are the responsibility of local authorities (so funding needs to come from their own resources through Revenue Support Grant monies). The Electoral Administration Act 2006 already provides for the Commission to monitor expenditure of electoral officers as well as their overall performance.
In respect of national elections, PPERA includes a provision for the transfer to the Electoral Commission of the responsibility for paying the fees and charges of returning officers at national elections (and agreeing the rates for such payments with HM Treasury). However, that provision has not to date been commenced and implemented. The CSPL does not believe such a responsibility would be compatible with the Commission’s role as regulator of electoral administration performance.
The Government is not persuaded that the provisions already approved by Parliament in PPERA for the transfer of this funding function to the Commission should be repealed. We do not share the CSPL's view that such a function would be incompatible with a regulatory function. On the contrary, we would see provision of the funds and subsequent monitoring of their expenditure as being complementary.
However, before these PPERA provisions can be implemented, there will be significant work to do to consider the details of any transfer, particularly taking into account the relationship with the new provisions for financial reporting of electoral expenditure to the Commission set out in the 2006 Act.
As regards the funding of local electoral services, as long as electoral services fall to be funded by a local authority, it remains appropriate that the decision as to exactly how much of their overall funding is put into electoral services should be a matter for each local authority, based on their assessment of the particular need and priority of the service in their locality. That said, we fully support the introduction of monitoring and reporting by the Commission of expenditure by local electoral officers. This will greatly increase the transparency of the process, so that all concerned can see more clearly exactly how much is spent in each local area.
In respect of national elections, PPERA includes a provision for the transfer to the Electoral Commission of the responsibility for paying the fees and charges of returning officers at national elections (and agreeing the rates for such payments with HM Treasury). However, that provision has not to date been commenced and implemented. The CSPL does not believe such a responsibility would be compatible with the Commission’s role as regulator of electoral administration performance.
The Government is not persuaded that the provisions already approved by Parliament in PPERA for the transfer of this funding function to the Commission should be repealed. We do not share the CSPL's view that such a function would be incompatible with a regulatory function. On the contrary, we would see provision of the funds and subsequent monitoring of their expenditure as being complementary.
However, before these PPERA provisions can be implemented, there will be significant work to do to consider the details of any transfer, particularly taking into account the relationship with the new provisions for financial reporting of electoral expenditure to the Commission set out in the 2006 Act.
As regards the funding of local electoral services, as long as electoral services fall to be funded by a local authority, it remains appropriate that the decision as to exactly how much of their overall funding is put into electoral services should be a matter for each local authority, based on their assessment of the particular need and priority of the service in their locality. That said, we fully support the introduction of monitoring and reporting by the Commission of expenditure by local electoral officers. This will greatly increase the transparency of the process, so that all concerned can see more clearly exactly how much is spent in each local area.
From: HM Government. Source document ↗