Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2018 to Question 143730, on European Parliament: Elections, whether not making preparations to hold European Parliamentary elections in 2019 will affect funding for returning officers; and what steps the Elections Claims Unit is taking to resolve potential issues relating to election claims.

Returning officers are funded from the Consolidated Fund for the running of elections at UK wide level. In the absence of a European Parliamentary poll, in the UK, in May 2019 funding will not be required. Therefore, there will be no elections claims in relation to that poll.