FI15800

Request

It will become apparent to a number of you that this is the THIRD occasion I have submitted this request and for that I apologise. However, this has been because the second part of the request has been unavailable at the time of asking and was further delayed by the UK parliamentary elections in July 2024.

Now that nearly a year has elapsed, the information requested below should be available and, hopefully, ready to disclose.

The following questions relate to May 2024’s election for the post of Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, which was won by the Conservative candidate, Matthew Scott.

 

  1. How many votes in total were cast in this district/borough for the election of the Kent Police & Crime Commissioner on May 2, including postal ballots and spoilt ballots?
  2. How much did the KPCC election cost in total in your borough/district?

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/foi/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:

 

  1. The total votes cast are listed on the Results page of the DDC webpage which can be found here: https://www.dover.gov.uk/Council--Democracy/Elections/Election-Results/PCC-2024-Declaration-of-local-results.pdf.
  2. The accounts for the KPCC election have been submitted to the Elections Claims Unit at MHCLG but have not yet been audited or approved. The claim amount submitted was for £240,704.99