The Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Accounts) Order 2026

Welsh Statutory Instruments

2026 No. 77

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE, WALES

SENEDD CYMRU

The Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Accounts) Order 2026

Made

9 March 2026

Coming into force

17 March 2026

The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred by article 23(4)(d), (6)(a) and (11) of the Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025(1), make the following Order.

Title and coming into force

1.—(1) The title of this Order is the Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Accounts) Order 2026.

(2) This Order comes into force on 17 March 2026.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“the 2025 Order” (“Gorchymyn 2025”) means the Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025;

“account” (“cyfrif”) means an account submitted for the recovery of a returning officer’s charges for, or in connection with, a Senedd election, under article 23(1) and (2) of the 2025 Order;

“returning officer” (“swyddog canlyniadau”) means the officer who, in accordance with article 18(2) of the 2025 Order, is the returning officer for a Senedd constituency;

“Senedd constituency” (“etholaeth Senedd”) means a constituency as defined in regulation 4 of, and the Schedule to, the Senedd Cymru Constituency Regulations 2025(2);

“Senedd election” (“etholiad i’r Senedd”) means an election to return a Senedd member for a Senedd constituency.

Submission of accounts to the Welsh Ministers

3.  An account must be submitted to the Welsh Ministers within the period of 6 months beginning with the day of the Senedd election to which the account relates.

Form of accounts

4.  A submitted account must set out separately each charge in respect of which a returning officer is making a claim.

Documents to accompany an account

5.  Any account submitted under this Order must be accompanied by—

(1) a receipt, or other supporting document, in respect of each expense incurred by the returning officer to whom the account relates, and

(2) a certificate, signed by that returning officer in the following terms—

(a) in English—

“I declare that this account, submitted for the purposes of the payment of charges in respect of services necessarily rendered and expenses necessarily incurred for the efficient and effective conduct of this election in the Senedd constituency for which I am responsible, is correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.”, or

(b) in Welsh—

“Yr wyf yn datgan bod y cyfrif hwn, a gyflwynir at ddibenion talu taliadau mewn cysylltiad â gwasanaethau a ddarparwyd o reidrwydd a threuliau yr aed iddynt o reidrwydd er mwyn cynnal yr etholiad hwn yn effeithlon ac yn effeithiol yn yr etholaeth Senedd yr wyf yn gyfrifol amdani, yn gywir hyd eithaf fy ngwybodaeth a’m cred.”.

Submission of incomplete accounts

6.—(1) An incomplete account may be submitted within the period specified in article 3.

(2) An incomplete account must—

(a) be as complete as possible in the circumstances, and

(b) also be accompanied by—

(i) a statement that the account is an incomplete account,

(ii) a statement of the reason for the submission of an incomplete account, and

(iii) the proposed date by which, subject to the agreement of the principal accounting officer, the complete account will be submitted.

(3) Any proposed date referred to in paragraph (2)(b)(iii) must be no later than 31 December in the year in which the Senedd election to which the account relates takes place.

(4) Paragraph (5) applies if the principal accounting officer—

(a) does not accept the returning officer’s reasons for the submission of the incomplete account,

(b) considers that the account submitted under this article is not as complete as possible in the circumstances, or

(c) considers the proposed date referred to in paragraph (2)(b)(iii) to be unreasonable.

(5) The principal accounting officer may require the returning officer to submit a complete account by a date that is earlier than the date proposed by the returning officer.

(6) In this article—

“incomplete account” (“cyfrif anghyflawn”) means an account in respect of some of the charges which a returning officer is entitled to recover under article 23(1) and (2) of the 2025 Order;

“the principal accounting officer” (“y prif swyddog cyfrifyddu”) has the meaning given in section 129(6) and (7) of the Government of Wales Act 2006(3).

Requests for charges in excess of maximum amounts

7.—(1) If a returning officer submits accounts under article 3 and requests payment for charges in excess of the maximum amounts, the returning officer must also submit to the Welsh Ministers—

(a) the reasons for the request of additional payments, and

(b) a detailed record of the charges in excess of the maximum amounts.

(2) Where the payment of charges in excess of the maximum amounts has been authorised, the returning officer must submit to the Welsh Ministers a complete account within the period of 4 months beginning with the day of the Senedd election to which the account relates.

(3) In this article, “maximum amounts” means the maximum amounts in respect of each Senedd constituency, as set out in article 3 of, and column 4 of the table in the Schedule to, the Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2026(4).

Jayne Bryant

Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, one of the Welsh Ministers

9 March 2026

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision as to the time when, and the manner and form in which, accounts are to be submitted for the purpose of the payment of returning officers’ charges.

This Order is made under article 23 of the Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/864) (W. 150) (“2025 Order”). Under article 23(1) of the 2025 Order returning officers are entitled to recover charges in respect of expenses incurred for, or in connection with, a Senedd election. Under article 23(2) of the 2025 Order returning officers are entitled to recover charges on behalf of electoral administrators in respect of services rendered for, or in connection with, a Senedd election. Both types of charge must be necessarily incurred for the efficient and effective conduct of the election.

The maximum charges recoverable for each Senedd constituency are set out in the Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2026.

Article 23(4)(d) of the 2025 Order places a duty on the Welsh Ministers to make, by Order, provisions as to the time when, and the manner and form in which, returning officers must submit their accounts to the Welsh Ministers to recover their charges.

Article 3 specifies that an account must be submitted within 6 months beginning with the day on which the Senedd election to which the account relates is held.

Article 4 specifies the form of accounts to be submitted to the Welsh Ministers, and provides that the account must separately list each charge incurred.

Article 5 provides that any account submitted under this Order must be submitted together with a receipt in respect of each expense incurred by a returning officer, and a certificate. Provision is made for the form of words to be used in the certificate.

Article 6 provides that a returning officer may submit an account to recover some of the charges that the returning officer is entitled to recover. This is known as an incomplete account. Article 6 specifies that an incomplete account must be as complete as possible and sets out the additional information that must also be submitted to the Welsh Ministers alongside the incomplete account.

Article 7 specifies the additional information that must be submitted to the Welsh Ministers when a returning officer is requesting charges in excess of the maximum amounts set out in article 3 of, and column 4 of the Schedule to, the Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Charges) Order 2026.

The previous accounts regulations, the Senedd Cymru (Returning Officers’ Accounts) Regulations 2021 (WG21-27), were revoked, subject to certain savings provisions, on 18 July 2025 by the 2025 Order.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to this Order. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with this Order.

(1)

S.I. 2025/864 (W. 150).

(2)

S.I. 2025/709 (W. 122).

(3)

2006 c. 32. There are amendments to section 129(6) and (7) which are not relevant to this Order.

(4)

W.S.I. 2026/76.