Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that all costs properly incurred in (a) the administration of elections, including electoral registration costs directly attributable to the election, are reimbursed to returning officers and their employing local authorities and (b) delivering electoral registration are automatically provided to local authorities without the need to revert to the justification-led bidding process.

The process for reimbursing properly incurred costs for electoral events is overseen by the
Election Claims Unit. Once claims have been received and properly scrutinised, expenses
necessarily incurred for the effective and efficient delivery of the poll will be reimbursed

The Election Claims Unit aims to settle claims within 12 months of them being received.

The majority of electoral registration activity is funded by local authorities across England,
Scotland and Wales. The law does not allow for claims for electoral events to include costs
of electoral registration.