The Scottish Parliament (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2011
Citation and commencement1.
This Order may be cited as the Scottish Parliament (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2011 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.
Interpretation2.
(1)
In this Order—
“the 1983 Act” means the Representation of the People Act 1983;
“the 2010 Order” means the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2010;
“constituency returning officer” means the person who is, in accordance with article 14 of the 2010 Order, the constituency returning officer for a Scottish parliamentary election;
“Scottish parliamentary election” means an election for membership of the Scottish Parliament.
(2)
In this Order, references to section 29 of the 1983 Act (payments by and to returning officer) are to that section as applied and modified by article 18 of the 2010 Order.
Constituency Returning Officers
Overall maximum recoverable amount3.
For the purposes of section 29(3)(b) of the 1983 Act the overall maximum recoverable amount for the constituency returning officer for a constituency is—
(a)
where the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is not combined, the amount listed opposite that constituency in column 4 of the table in the Schedule;
(b)
where the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is combined, the amount so listed in column 7 of that table; or
(c)
where the election is uncontested, £1,888.
Maximum recoverable amount for specified services4.
(1)
For the purposes of section 29(3A) of the 1983 Act the maximum recoverable amount for the services specified in paragraph (2) for the constituency returning officer for a constituency is—
(a)
where the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is not combined, the amount listed opposite that constituency in column 2 of the table in the Schedule;
(b)
where the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is combined, the amount so listed in column 5 of that table; or
(c)
where the election is uncontested, £544.
(2)
The specified services are—
(a)
conducting the election;
(b)
discharging the constituency returning officer’s duties at the election; and
(c)
making arrangements for the election.
Maximum recoverable amount for specified expenses5.
(1)
For the purposes of section 29(3A) of the 1983 Act the maximum recoverable amount for the expenses specified in paragraph (2) for the constituency returning officer for a constituency is—
(a)
where the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is not combined, the amount listed opposite that constituency in column 3 of the table in the Schedule;
(b)
where the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is combined, the amount so listed in column 6 of that table; or
(c)
where the election is uncontested, £1,344.
(2)
The specified expenses are—
(a)
the appointment and payment of persons to assist the constituency returning officer;
(b)
travel and overnight subsistence for the constituency returning officer and any person appointed to assist the constituency returning officer;
(c)
the costs of the nomination process;
(d)
printing or otherwise producing the ballot papers;
(e)
printing, producing or purchasing postal vote stationery;
(f)
printing or otherwise producing and arranging for the delivery of poll cards;
(g)
printing or otherwise producing and, where appropriate, publishing notices and any other documents required by any enactment for or in connection with the election;
(h)
renting, heating, lighting, cleaning, adapting, or restoring any building or room;
(i)
providing and transporting equipment;
(j)
providing information and communications technology equipment and software and associated costs;
(k)
providing security, including any necessary secure storage of ballot boxes, ballot papers and verification documents;
(l)
conducting the verification and the count;
(m)
providing and receiving training; and
(n)
providing stationery and meeting postage, telephone, printing, translation and banking costs and the costs of other miscellaneous items.
Regional Returning Officers
Overall maximum recoverable amount6.
For the purposes of section 29(3)(b) of the 1983 Act the overall maximum recoverable amount for a regional returning officer is—
(a)
where the election is contested, £1,255; or
(b)
where the election is uncontested, £378.
Maximum recoverable amount for specified services7.
(1)
For the purposes of section 29(3A) of the 1983 Act the maximum recoverable amount for the services specified in paragraph (2) for a regional returning officer is—
(a)
where the election is contested, £697; or
(b)
where the election is uncontested, £109.
(2)
The specified services are—
(a)
discharging the regional returning officer’s duties at the election; and
(b)
making arrangements for the election.
Maximum recoverable amount for specified expenses8.
(1)
For the purposes of section 29(3A) of the 1983 Act the maximum recoverable amount for the expenses specified in paragraph (2) for a regional returning officer is—
(a)
where the election is contested, £558; or
(b)
where the election is uncontested, £269.
(2)
The specified expenses are—
(a)
the appointment and payment of persons to assist the regional returning officer;
(b)
travel and overnight subsistence for the regional returning officer and any person appointed to assist the regional returning officer;
(c)
printing or otherwise producing and, where appropriate, publishing notices and any other documents required by any enactment for or in connection with the election;
(d)
renting, heating, lighting, cleaning, adapting or restoring any building or room;
(e)
providing and transporting equipment;
(f)
providing training; and
(g)
providing stationery and meeting postage, telephone, printing, translation and banking costs and the costs of other miscellaneous items including those which are incurred in collating the results of the election.
Revocation9.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State
Dover House
We consent
SCHEDULEOverall maximum recoverable amounts and maximum recoverable amounts for returning officers’ specified services and specified expenses for Scottish Parliament constituencies
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POLL AT SCOTTISH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION TAKEN ALONE | POLL AT SCOTTISH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION COMBINED WITH ANOTHER POLL | |||||
Constituency | Maximum recoverable amount for the specified services | Maximum recoverable amount for the specified expenses | Overall maximum recoverable amount | Maximum recoverable amount for the specified services | Maximum recoverable amount for the specified expenses | Overall maximum recoverable amount |
Aberdeen Central | £2,682 | £145,968 | £148,650 | £2,682 | £111,145 | £113,827 |
Aberdeen Donside | £2,668 | £141,395 | £144,063 | £2,668 | £108,027 | £110,695 |
Aberdeen South and North Kincardine | £2,606 | £138,215 | £140,821 | £2,606 | £107,069 | £109,675 |
Aberdeenshire East | £2,628 | £156,309 | £158,937 | £2,628 | £116,031 | £118,659 |
Aberdeenshire West | £2,550 | £157,313 | £159,863 | £2,550 | £116,145 | £118,695 |
Airdrie and Shotts | £2,500 | £130,858 | £133,358 | £2,500 | £95,905 | £98,405 |
Almond Valley | £2,887 | £155,883 | £158,770 | £2,887 | £116,056 | £118,943 |
Angus North and Mearns | £2,500 | £143,617 | £146,117 | £2,500 | £105,250 | £107,750 |
Angus South | £2,611 | £156,469 | £159,080 | £2,611 | £113,975 | £116,586 |
Argyll and Bute | £2,500 | £180,087 | £182,587 | £2,500 | £126,115 | £128,615 |
Ayr | £2,943 | £161,407 | £164,350 | £2,943 | £124,792 | £127,735 |
Banffshire and Buchan Coast | £2,698 | £152,470 | £155,168 | £2,698 | £114,536 | £117,234 |
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross | £2,676 | £164,710 | £167,386 | £2,676 | £117,655 | £120,331 |
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley | £2,863 | £162,302 | £165,165 | £2,863 | £122,908 | £125,771 |
Clackmannanshire and Dunblane | £2,500 | £146,201 | £148,701 | £2,500 | £106,228 | £108,728 |
Clydebank and Milngavie | £2,563 | £146,382 | £148,945 | £2,563 | £106,566 | £109,129 |
Clydesdale | £2,715 | £148,679 | £151,394 | £2,715 | £110,596 | £113,311 |
Coatbridge and Chryston | £2,500 | £121,939 | £124,439 | £2,500 | £90,820 | £93,320 |
Cowdenbeath | £2,579 | £131,677 | £134,256 | £2,579 | £99,212 | £101,791 |
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | £2,500 | £115,666 | £118,166 | £2,500 | £86,889 | £89,389 |
Cunninghame North | £2,698 | £145,728 | £148,426 | £2,698 | £109,135 | £111,833 |
Cunninghame South | £2,500 | £126,742 | £129,242 | £2,500 | £94,725 | £97,225 |
Dumbarton | £2,608 | £157,415 | £160,023 | £2,608 | £114,324 | £116,932 |
Dumfriesshire | £2,840 | £170,376 | £173,216 | £2,840 | £126,859 | £129,699 |
Dundee City East | £2,573 | £128,917 | £131,490 | £2,573 | £99,078 | £101,651 |
Dundee City West | £2,500 | £126,045 | £128,545 | £2,500 | £96,246 | £98,746 |
Dunfermline | £2,606 | £143,273 | £145,879 | £2,606 | £108,011 | £110,617 |
East Kilbride | £2,815 | £132,440 | £135,255 | £2,815 | £102,638 | £105,453 |
East Lothian | £2,646 | £146,709 | £149,355 | £2,646 | £112,734 | £115,380 |
Eastwood | £2,500 | £130,349 | £132,849 | £2,500 | £100,543 | £103,043 |
Edinburgh Central | £2,712 | £136,752 | £139,464 | £2,712 | £104,724 | £107,436 |
Edinburgh Eastern | £2,776 | £127,166 | £129,942 | £2,776 | £99,706 | £102,482 |
Edinburgh Northern and Leith | £2,724 | £145,440 | £148,164 | £2,724 | £111,062 | £113,786 |
Edinburgh Pentlands | £2,578 | £144,948 | £147,526 | £2,578 | £110,569 | £113,147 |
Edinburgh Southern | £2,669 | £139,919 | £142,588 | £2,669 | £107,884 | £110,553 |
Edinburgh Western | £2,747 | £147,779 | £150,526 | £2,747 | £113,399 | £116,146 |
Na h-Eileanan an Iar | £2,500 | £74,927 | £77,427 | £2,500 | £52,959 | £55,459 |
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire | £2,601 | £169,750 | £172,351 | £2,601 | £119,464 | £122,065 |
Falkirk East | £2,765 | £126,692 | £129,457 | £2,765 | £96,457 | £99,222 |
Falkirk West | £2,698 | £127,755 | £130,453 | £2,698 | £96,919 | £99,617 |
Galloway and West Dumfries | £2,724 | £173,355 | £176,079 | £2,724 | £127,172 | £129,896 |
Glasgow Anniesland | £2,570 | £123,240 | £125,810 | £2,570 | £92,948 | £95,518 |
Glasgow Cathcart | £2,773 | £128,614 | £131,387 | £2,773 | £96,988 | £99,761 |
Glasgow Kelvin | £2,803 | £121,022 | £123,825 | £2,803 | £92,688 | £95,491 |
Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn | £2,606 | £120,516 | £123,122 | £2,606 | £91,426 | £94,032 |
Glasgow Pollok | £2,709 | £118,483 | £121,192 | £2,709 | £91,039 | £93,748 |
Glasgow Provan | £2,500 | £114,498 | £116,998 | £2,500 | £87,054 | £89,554 |
Glasgow Shettleston | £2,501 | £118,409 | £120,910 | £2,501 | £88,568 | £91,069 |
Glasgow Southside | £2,500 | £106,109 | £108,609 | £2,500 | £81,901 | £84,401 |
Greenock and Inverclyde | £2,708 | £140,383 | £143,091 | £2,708 | £108,636 | £111,344 |
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse | £2,756 | £131,115 | £133,871 | £2,756 | £101,314 | £104,070 |
Inverness and Nairn | £2,960 | £178,714 | £181,674 | £2,960 | £132,525 | £135,485 |
Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley | £2,934 | £150,531 | £153,465 | £2,934 | £115,361 | £118,295 |
Kirkcaldy | £2,863 | £145,550 | £148,413 | £2,863 | £110,290 | £113,153 |
Linlithgow | £3,018 | £165,479 | £168,497 | £3,018 | £122,536 | £125,554 |
Mid Fife and Glenrothes | £2,583 | £133,172 | £135,755 | £2,583 | £100,704 | £103,287 |
Midlothian North and Musselburgh | £2,736 | £135,008 | £137,744 | £2,736 | £102,543 | £105,279 |
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale | £2,760 | £159,629 | £162,389 | £2,760 | £116,132 | £118,892 |
Moray | £2,696 | £145,738 | £148,434 | £2,696 | £110,029 | £112,725 |
Motherwell and Wishaw | £2,626 | £127,363 | £129,989 | £2,626 | £94,753 | £97,379 |
North East Fife | £2,852 | £151,574 | £154,426 | £2,852 | £113,644 | £116,496 |
Orkney Islands | £2,500 | £48,596 | £51,096 | £2,500 | £36,659 | £39,159 |
Paisley | £2,500 | £132,469 | £134,969 | £2,500 | £102,214 | £104,714 |
Perthshire North | £2,513 | £152,352 | £154,865 | £2,513 | £118,959 | £121,472 |
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire | £2,684 | £158,485 | £161,169 | £2,684 | £123,638 | £126,322 |
Renfrewshire North and West | £2,500 | £128,538 | £131,038 | £2,500 | £97,849 | £100,349 |
Renfrewshire South | £2,500 | £126,742 | £129,242 | £2,500 | £96,499 | £98,999 |
Rutherglen | £2,804 | £117,599 | £120,403 | £2,804 | £87,826 | £90,630 |
Shetland Islands | £2,500 | £55,823 | £58,323 | £2,500 | £39,318 | £41,818 |
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch | £2,713 | £168,989 | £171,702 | £2,713 | £120,924 | £123,637 |
Stirling | £2,522 | £151,075 | £153,597 | £2,522 | £110,806 | £113,328 |
Strathkelvin and Bearsden | £2,863 | £140,477 | £143,340 | £2,863 | £108,891 | £111,754 |
Uddingston and Bellshill | £2,709 | £127,686 | £130,395 | £2,709 | £96,120 | £98,829 |
This Order provides for the maximum amounts which are to be recoverable by returning officers for their services and expenses in connection with the conduct of elections for membership of the Scottish Parliament.
Regional returning officers are responsible for receiving the regional lists of candidates from registered political parties, receiving the nominations of individual candidates to be regional members for their region, calculating the regional figures for the purpose of allocating regional member seats to registered political parties or individual candidates and co-ordinating the functions of the constituency returning officers in their region, insofar as they relate to the poll for the return of the regional members.
Constituency returning officers are responsible for all other functions in connection with the elections, including the counting of votes for the return of constituency members and the counting of the regional votes.
Under section 29 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (which is applied, with modifications, to Scottish parliamentary elections by article 18 of the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2010) constituency returning officers and regional returning officers are entitled to recover their charges for services rendered and expenses incurred provided that they were necessarily rendered or incurred and do not exceed the overall maximum recoverable amount specified by the Secretary of State in an order. Section 29(3A) also enables the Secretary of State to specify in such an order a maximum recoverable amount for particular services or expenses.
Articles 3, 4 and 5 specify, for constituency returning officers, the overall maximum recoverable amounts, the maximum recoverable amount for specified services and the maximum recoverable amount for specified expenses respectively. For contested elections, the amounts are specified separately for each constituency in the Schedule, and different amounts apply depending on whether the poll for a Scottish parliamentary election is taken alone or is combined with the poll for another election or referendum. For uncontested elections the amounts are as specified in those articles and apply to all the constituencies.
Articles 6, 7 and 8 specify, for regional returning officers, the overall maximum recoverable amounts, the maximum recoverable amount for specified services and the maximum recoverable amount for specified expenses respectively. The amounts apply for each region. (The regions are those specified in the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies and Regions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2691)). Different amounts apply depending on whether the Scottish parliamentary election is contested or uncontested. The amounts specified for contested elections (see articles 6(a), 7(1)(a) and 8(1)(a)) apply whether or not the poll at a Scottish parliamentary election is taken alone or combined with the poll for another election or referendum.
Article 9 revokes the Scottish Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2007. That Order specified the maximum charges applicable under section 29 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (as applied with modifications) prior to its amendment by section 68 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006. The maximum charges specified in that Order are therefore not directly comparable with those specified in the present Order.
A full impact assessment has not been published for this instrument as it has no impact on the private sector or civil society organisations.