Written questions by Hollinrake.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Commission plans to respond to the First Report of the Speaker's Conference on the security of MPs, candidates and elections, published on 22 June 2025, HC 570.

The Commission published a statement on 2 June on the day of publication of the report, welcoming the insights gathered by the Speaker’s Conference and their proposal for cross-cutting solutions.The Commission is looking at how we can support implementation of the report’s proposals, in partnership with the wider electoral community, and how to improve our support for candidates and campaigners ahead of elections next May.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what proportion of valid votes were cast by overseas electors, by Parliamentary constituency in the 2024 general election.

Due to the secrecy of the ballot, it is not possible to distinguish if a valid vote was cast by an overseas elector.The Commission has published data, where it could be provided by Returning Officers, on the proportion of overseas electors issued with a postal vote and the percentage that were returned by close of poll. It does not hold data on the number of overseas electors who chose to cast their vote by proxy or in person.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what proportion of valid votes were cast by (a) postal ballot and (b) proxy ballot, by Parliamentary constituency in the 2024 general election.

All votes are mixed for counting so it is not possible to distinguish the proportion of valid votes cast by post or proxy.The Commission has published data, where provided by Returning Officers, on the proportion of postal votes included in counts and the number of proxies appointed.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Commission has issued guidance on whether a government department can be a permissible donor.

A government department is not a permissible donor. However, political parties can receive public funds from government departments. The Commission’s guidance on permissibility states that any payment received by a political party out of public funds is regarded as received by a permissible donor. Parties must report these payments if above the reporting threshold.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the Electoral Commission's publication entitled FAQ sheet for qualifying foreign citizens in Wales (multiple languages), published on 15 June 2020, for what reason this information was translated into (a) Arabic, (b) Bengali, (c) Chinese and (d) Urdu.

In 2020-21 the franchise was extended to allow qualifying foreign nationals resident in Wales to vote in Senedd and local elections.The Electoral Commission’s role is to provide voters with the information they need to take part in elections. As part of this work ahead of the 2021 Senedd election, it translated resources into the five most commonly spoken foreign languages in Wales. This was intended to support newly enfranchised voters to participate in the election, and is in line with the Welsh Government’s approach to translation of resources for voters.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what information the Electoral Commission holds on the average cost to local authorities for holding (a) Parliamentary and (b) local authority by-elections, broken down by local authority ward.

The Electoral Commission does not hold data on the average cost to local authorities for holding elections. Local authorities are responsible for managing the costs of elections within their area and hold their own local data. The cost of conducting UK parliamentary elections is paid for by the UK Government through the Consolidated Fund, while local elections are paid for directly from the individual local authority budgets.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) produces a report on the costs of each UK parliamentary general election, including a breakdown of costs by category, such as staff costs and equipment. The report for the 2024 UK parliamentary general election will be published in due course.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many Freedom of Information Act requests the Electoral Commission has substantively responded to since 4 July 2024; and what the outcome was of each.

The Commission provided responses to 178 FOI requests between 4 July 2024 and 14 May.A copy of the response to each FOI request submitted to the Commission can be found on its website at www.electoralcommission.org.uk/about-us/freedom-information .

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has previously released individual RPA candidate spending returns under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Electoral Commission assesses each request under the FOI Act individually. The Act allows certain exemptions to be applied when considering requests, including an exemption for information that is reasonably by other means. Candidate returns are available on request from local authorities for two years for the date of receipt.The Commission takes a range of factors into account when considering disclosure of candidate spending returns. The Commission has previously released a number of redacted individual candidate spending returns under FOI after the two-year period or where the return was not available from the Returning Officer.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what plans the Electoral Commission has to provide a substantive response to the internal review request to the Freedom of Information Act response reference 137-24, submitted for internal review in February 2025.

The Electoral Commission responded to the internal review request on 30 April.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41450 on Electoral Commission: Companies House, whether the Electoral Commission has made requests to Companies House to obtain additional information under the provisions in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

The Electoral Commission has not made any requests to Companies House under the provisions in the Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024 on the work of the Electoral Commission.

The Commission regularly assesses the impact of legislation on its work, including the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024. The Act makes a number of changes to electoral law in Wales, including the establishment of an Electoral Management Board, new provisions on voter registration, powers for a wider range of electoral innovation pilots, and alignment with legislation for reserved elections in some areas such as accessibility, undue influence, and notional expenditure.The Commission has been working with the Welsh Government and the wider electoral community to ensure that changes to elections in Wales are delivered successfully. It will develop updated guidance and resources for electoral administrators, campaigners and voters to reflect the changes that are being introduced. The Commission also has a duty to evaluate any pilots that are held in Wales.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2025 to Question 42467 on Electoral Commission: Companies House, whether the Electoral Commission plans to access Companies House data.

The Commission regularly accesses data published by Companies House as part of its work enforcing political finance laws. It will make decisions on requests for additional data as appropriate to its enforcement work.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 45675 on Candidates: Expenditure, whether the Electoral Commission releases candidate returns under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Electoral Commission does not release candidate spending returns under the Freedom of Information Act.The Representation of the People Act 1983 requires returning officers to make candidate spending returns available for two years. As such, spending returns are considered reasonably accessible by other means, and so are exempt from disclosure by the Commission under section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43087 on Elections: Expenditure, what guidance the Electoral Commission has given on whether items of notional expenditure below £50 count towards the aggregate spending limit.

The Commission’s guidance for candidates states that items provided for free or at a non-commercial discount with a value of £50 or less are not regarded in law as notional spending. They do not need to be recorded on a candidate’s spending return or counted towards their spending limit.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what guidance the Electoral Commission issues to candidates on declaring notional expenditure associated with policing and security while campaigning in the regulated period as an election expense.

The Commission’s guidance on candidate spending laws explains that reasonable expenses relating to the protection of persons or property, such as hiring security, do not count as candidate spending. It therefore does not need to be declared on a candidate’s spending return.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2025, to Question 22035, on Candidates: Expenditure, if he will publish a copy of the spending return for the hon. Member for Hamilton and Clyde Valley at the 2024 General Election.

The Electoral Commission does not have the legal power to publish full candidate spending returns.Returning Officers must make the full returns available for public scrutiny on request for a period of two years beginning with the date when the return is received.Headline figures from candidate spending returns, including the constituency of Hamilton and Clyde Valley, were published on the Commission’s website on 18 March. The Commission publishes these so that voters and candidates can see how much was spent and ensure spending limits have been observed.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what guidance the Electoral Commission has provided on whether a linked donation which a Parliamentary candidate benefits from but given to a national political party during the 2024 general election short campaign, must be declared in the candidate’s Representation of the People Act return.

The Electoral Commission publishes guidance for candidates and agents on donations that are held on a candidate's behalf by a party, such as in a local party fighting fund. How a donation must be reported depends on the intention of the donor and who controls the donation once received.If a donation is held by the party but made with the intention that the candidate benefits and is made available to the candidate, it must be declared in the candidate's spending return.If there is no intention to donate to the candidate, or the donation is received and controlled by the party, this is likely to be a party donation. If the party then uses the donation to benefit the candidate, the candidate may need to report a seperate donation from the party.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has produced guidance on the inclusion of local Electoral Returning Officers within the definition of local authorities for the Re-use of Public Sector Information.

The Electoral Commisson has not produced guidance on the inclusion of local Electoral Returning Officers within the definition of local authorities for the Re-Use of Public Sector Information.The Electoral Commission produces guidance on the roles and responsibilities of Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers in carrying out the statutory functions to deliver well-run electoral services.The Information Commissioner's Office is responsible for enforcing data protection legislation and has produced guidance for publice sector bodies covered by the Re-Use Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (RPSI)

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37583 on Elections: Expenditure, what guidance the Commission has issued on (a) itemising and (b) listing notional spending below £50 in Representation of the People Act returns where the total notional expenditure from that organisation is greater than £50.

The Elecotoral Commission has published guidance for candidates and agents on reporting notional expenditure. Property, goods, services or facilities received over the value of £50, provided for free or at a non-commercial discount, must be reported as candidate spending and as a donation. There are no requirements in law for candidates to report items of notional spending where the value is £50 or lower.Candidates do not need to itemise or list individual items of spending with a value of £50 or below, even when they have received multiple items of spending from the same organisation with a total value over £50.Agents are required to include the details of any reportable notional expenditure, and a declaration of its value in the candidate spending return.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 37580 on Electoral Commission: Companies House, what discussions the Electoral Commission has had with Companies House on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

The Electoral Commission has not had discussions with Companies House on the legislation referred to by the Hon. Gentleman.