Written questions by Hollinrake.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 59783 on Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru: Elections, if the Electoral Commission will take steps to require the devolved administrations to ensure that political parties have (a) advance notice of and (b) clarity on the spending limits before of the election’s regulated period.

The Commission encourages the UK’s governments to ensure that changes to electoral legislation are clear at least six months before voters, campaigners, or electoral administrators are expected to comply with them. This helps to ensure all stakeholders, including political parties, have sufficient notice and clarity on any subsequent changes.The Electoral Commission provides updated guidance, support and advice for political parties and candidates to help them comply with political finance laws.The spending limits for Scottish Parliament elections have not changed ahead of the 2026 elections. Ahead of these elections, the Commission has already published its guidance for parties, and plans to publish its guidance for candidates and agents in September.The Welsh Government has introduced new spending limits for the Senedd elections, which were agreed by the Senedd in July. The Commission will publish its guidance for parties, candidates and agents in September.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 59356 on Political Parties: Finance, whether political parties can accept the donation in kind of research services from an organisation where that research is ultimately funded by foreign donors.

Political parties may only accept donations, including donations in kind of research services, from permissible sources. However, there are currently no restrictions on where donors themselves raise funds. The Commission has highlighted this weakness in the political finance regime, and recommended changes that would safeguard the system.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has issued guidance on (a) companies and (b) unincorporated associations raising funds from foreign donations overseas and assigning proceeds for political (i) donations and (ii) donations in kind to (A) political parties and (B) regulated donees.

The Commission’s guidance for political parties covers permissibility of donations from companies and unincorporated associations. If an organisation makes a donation on behalf of another source without disclosing the details of the original donor, this is likely to be an agency offence. The law places a responsibility on the recipient of a donation to ensure they are satisfied as to the identity of the donor, and that the donor is permissibleA company is a permissible donor if it is registered as a company at Companies House, is incorporated in the UK, and is carrying on business in the UK. An unincorporated association is permissible if it has more than one member, the main office is in the UK, and it is carrying on business or activities in the UK.The Commission has highlighted that it remains possible for money from foreign sources to enter the UK electoral system, including through companies and unincorporated associations. There are no requirements for unincorporated associations to check that gifts they receive are from permissible sources, or on how company donations are funded. It has called for changes to ensure the system protects against foreign interference.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has issued guidance on members’ associations set up as limited companies (a) registering with the Commission to make political contributions and (b) reporting political donations.

The Commission’s guidance for regulated donees sets out the reporting requirements for members associations.Members associations are any type of organisation, including a limited company, whose membership wholly or mainly consists of members of one political party. There is no requirement for members associations which are limited companies to register with the Commission. Members associations must report to us any donations over £11,180 they receive towards their political activities within their party.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what the value is of the (a) RDEL and (b) CDEL settlement for the Electoral Commission in each year of the Spending Review 2025; and what plans the Commission has to delivery efficiency savings.

The Electoral Commission’s five-year Corporate Plan was approved by Parliament in February 2025. The plan outlines the benefits that the Commission’s work and spending will deliver for voters, electoral administrators and political parties and campaigners. The plan can be found on the Commission’s website.The Commission’s budget per financial year (Westminster funding) is as follows:Financial yearRDEL CDEL2025/26£44.2m£2.2m2026/27£47.5m£2.7m2027/28£48.0m£1.4m2028/29£68.5m£1.3m2029/30£68.1m£1.2mThe Commission also has funding arrangements with the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru for work related to devolved elections.The Commission is fully committed to delivering value for money. It has recently made significant efficiency savings, including by sharing office space with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. It has also achieved a 50% reduction in energy consumption at its London office, and a reduction in the cost of providing staff laptops.The Commission will continue work with the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission to ensure Parliament and voters have confidence in the Commission’s finances.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 56565 on Political Parties: Crypocurrencies, if he will publish the guidance on non-standard donations.

The Commission’s published guidance on donation permissibility, includes information on cryptocurrencies.This guidance states that the controls which apply to donations of crypto assets are the same as the controls which apply to other types of donations. Donations must be from permissible sources and recipients must establish the value in pounds of donations at the time of receipt.The Commission is currently reviewing this guidance so it can offer parties specific advice on handling donations of crypto assets, considering ongoing developments in the regulation of these assets.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what discussions the Electoral Commission has had with the (a) Scottish and (b) Welsh government on spending limits for the (i) Scottish Parliament and (ii) Welsh Senedd elections in 2026; and what the Commission’s planned timetable is for the ratification of the spending limits.

Each government, through the appropriate parliament, sets the spending limits for each relevant election. The Commission provides advice on the potential impact of any changes to the spending limits, and if necessary, consent. Any changes should be supported by rigorous analysis of relevant data and evidence to understand the likely impacts on parties and candidates, to maintain a level playing field, and on transparency and voter confidence. The Commission will monitor how recent changes made by governments function and their impact at the elections in 2026.It is the role of individual parliaments to ratify their respective spending limits. The Commission offers proactive advice to the regulated community to ensure parties, campaigners and candidates understand the spending rules they must follow. It will update its guidance to reflect any changes.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has given guidance to (a) political parties and (b) Reform UK Ltd on whether the provision of research is a donation in kind.

The Electoral Commission provides guidance for all political parties. The guidance states that any service – including research – provided to a party for free or on non-commercial terms is a donation. If the market value is above £500, the donor must be permissible, and if the value is above the reporting threshold (£11,180 for donations to central parties, or £2,230 for donations to accounting units or subsequent donations from the same source), it must also be reported to the Commission.If the party pays for the service, it would not be a donation.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the total number of registered overseas electors at the 2024 general election; and how many applied for a postal or proxy vote.

191,338 overseas voters registered for the 2024 general election. Half (49%) of all registered overseas voters registered for a postal vote. The Commission does not collect data on how many overseas voters applied to vote by proxy.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what guidance the Commission has issued on political donations being made via cryptocurrencies.

The Commission’s guidance on permissibility of donations includes information on cryptocurrencies. The guidance states that the same legal requirements apply to donations received in cryptocurrencies as any other donations. Parties must ensure that they obtain donors’ details, so they can check permissibility. As with other types of assets, parties must report the value in pounds at the time of the donation.The Commission will continue to review its guidance and support for parties to ensure that they are aware of how the law applies to cryptocurrency donations.

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, 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, 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 (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, 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, 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, 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, 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 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.