§ Mr. CartwrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will set out the fees currently payable to(a) presiding officers of polling stations, (b) poll clerks and (c) counting assistants at (i) local elections and (ii) parliamentary elections in Greater London;
(2) what representations he has received about the impact of the Returning Officers' Charges Order 1991 on the recruitment of essential election staff in Greater London; and what response he has made.
§ Mrs. RumboldCurrent maximum levels of recoverable expenditure at a parliamentary election are specified in the Returning Officers' Charges Order 1991—SI 1991 No. 1687. The fees payable to presiding officers and poll clerks in a constituency in a London borough are £106 and £72 respectively. The fees paid to counting assistants are at the discretion of the acting returning officer, subject to a maximum recoverable amount for the conduct of the count. The fees paid at a local government election are a matter for the local authority concerned.
We have received representations on this subject from a number of acting returning officers in London and elsewhere, and from the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, the Association of District Secretaries and the London Boroughs Association. The case for an increase in the level of fees before the general election is being considered.