Representation of the People Act 1983

36 Local elections in England and Wales

(1) Elections of councillors for local government areas in England and Wales shall be conducted in accordance with rules made by the Secretary of State.

(2) Rules made under this section shall apply the parliamentary elections rules in Schedule 1 to this Act, subject to such adaptations, alterations and exceptions as seem appropriate to the Secretary of State.

(3) When the following ordinary elections fall to be held in the same year—

(a) the ordinary election of district councillors for any district ward, and

(b) the ordinary election of parish or community councillors for any parish or community, or any parish or community ward, which is coterminous with or situated in that district ward,

the polls at those elections shall be taken together and one-half of the cost of taking the combined polls shall be treated as attributable to the holding of each election.

(4) All expenditure properly incurred by a returning officer in relation to the holding of an election of a councillor for a principal area (that is, a county, Greater London, a district or a London borough) shall, in so far as it does not, in cases where there is a scale fixed for the purposes of this section by the council for that area, exceed that scale, be paid by that council.

(5) All expenditure properly incurred by a returning officer in relation to the holding of an election of a parish or community councillor shall, in so far as it does not, in cases where there is a scale fixed for the purposes of this section by the council of the district in which the parish or the community is situated, exceed that scale, be paid by the district council, but any expenditure so incurred shall be chargeable only on the parish or community for which the election is held.

(6) Before a poll is taken at an election of a councillor for any local government area in England and Wales the council of that area or, in the case of an election of a parish or community councillor, the council who appointed the returning officer shall, at the request of the returning officer or of any person acting as returning officer, advance to him such reasonable sum in respect of his expenses at the election as he may require.

(7) Rules made under this section shall be—

(a) made by statutory instrument;

(b) subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.