Question

To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31952 on Elections: Expenditure, what guidance the Commission has provided on (a) what (i) petrol, (ii) staffing, (iii) coach hire and (iv) other costs of a battlebus should be assigned to local candidate spend and (b) whether this includes travel outside a constituency to the constituency.

The Commission has published guidance for parties and candidates on how to distinguish between party and candidate spending, and how to report such spending. The classification of spend on a battlebus visit will depend on whether the spending promotes the party or the candidate.

The Commission’s guidance includes a number of examples of campaign events and how these would be reported.

The Commission has published guidance for candidates on transport costs. Reportable transport costs include the costs of transporting volunteers, party members or other campaigners around the electoral area, or to and from the electoral area, where they are undertaking campaigning on behalf of the candidate. This includes the costs of transport hire and fuel.

The Commission has also published guidance for candidates on staff costs. Costs for staff directly employed by the party do not count towards party spending limits. However, if staff are provided to a candidate for their campaign, staff costs would need to be reported by the candidate as notional spending.