Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) total cost and (b) cost in each principal category of expenditure was of the police and crime commissioner elections in 2016; and in which months of 2016 costs for each of the principal items were incurred.

The total cost of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections held in May 2016 comprises two main elements: the expenditure incurred by Returning Officers in running the polls; and the cost of producing and delivering on-demand candidate information booklets. Returning Officers have six months from the day of the elections to submit their expenses claims and so the final cost will not be known until all of these have been received, scrutinised and settled. The majority of Returning Officers’ expenditure was incurred in April and May 2016.