FI15454
Request
- How often local election cycles are held excluding by-elections. For example, the full council is elected every four years or a third of councillors are elected every year except the county council year.
- The year or years local elections took place in the latest cycle since 2021 excluding by-elections. For example, if there is one local election where all councillors are elected once every four years then provide the year in which that election was held. If councillors are elected by thirds over a four year period then provide all years within the time period that these elections took place in the latest cycle to elect all councillors.
- The total cost of each local council election held excluding by-elections broken down by election. For example, if there is one election where all councillors are elected once every four years then provide the cost of running that election. If councillors are elected by thirds over a four year period then provide the costs for each of those three elections in the latest cycle.
Response
Under the Representation of the People Act 1983 as amended, the Council must appoint an officer of the Council to be the Returning Officer for any constituency or part of a constituency coterminous with or situated in the Council’s area. The Chief Executive is the appointed officer for the registration area of Dover District. His appointment as Returning Officer (RO) and as Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) is separate to his appointment as Chief Executive and, although appointed by the Council, both the Electoral Registration Officer and the Returning Officer’s responsibilities and duties are personal. An example of this is that the register of electors is deemed to be the property of the Electoral Registration Officer, not the local authority.
The Electoral Registration Officer and the Returning Officer do not carry out the duties on behalf of the local authority but in their own personal capacity. A list of public bodies and local authorities that are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act is available at the following website: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guidance-index/freedom-of-information-and-environmental-information-regulations/public-authorities-under-foia/.
As you will see, the Freedom of Information Act does not list any person appointed under the Representation of the People Act 1983. It follows that the Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer or any other person appointed under the Act are not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
Notwithstanding that there is no statutory obligation to provide this information under FOI regulations, the answers to your questions are as follows:
- Full District and Parish Council elections are held every 4 years – Schedule: 2019, 2023, 2027.
- Full District and Parish Council elections were last held in 2023.
- For the elections held on Thursday 4 May 2023, the total cost of District Council elections to the District Council was £137,606 (another £32,124 funding from DLUHC was also spent to offset the extra costs incurred by the introduction of Voter ID and the need for accessibility devices in polling stations). This is equivalent of 17 separate elections for a total of 32 seats. The total cost of Parish elections to the parishes was £16,851 (another £7,552 funding from DLUHC was also spent to offset the extra costs incurred by the introduction of Voter ID and the need for accessibility devices in polling stations). There were a total of 19 parishes/parish wards contested out of a potential 51. The costs of running local elections are shared proportionately between the District Council and the number of parish councils that go to election. Not all parish councils or parish wards are contested so there may be years when the District is paying more, or paying less, depending on the number of contested parish elections, and ‘New Burdens’ funding is only available when there is a change in the law which affects the costs of running an election.