Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Combined Authority Mayoral elections

The following activities are not regulated as they are exempt from the definition of candidate spending:

• payment of your election deposit1   
• costs that are reasonably attributable to the candidate’s disability2
• anything (except adverts) appearing in a newspaper, periodical or on a licensed broadcast channel3
• facilities you use because you are entitled to do so as a candidate, such as a public room for a meeting4
• volunteer time including time spent by your staff that you do not pay them for5
• use of someone’s main residence, provided free of charge6
• use of someone’s personal car or other means of transport, acquired principally for that person’s personal use and provided free of charge7
• use of someone’s computing or printing equipment acquired principally for that person’s personal use and provided free of charge8
• reasonable expenses attributable to the protection of persons or property, for example hiring security, using a PO Box to avoid publicising a home or office address on imprints, or purchasing antivirus software for protecting campaign computers9

You do not have to report spending on these activities, and they do not count towards your spending limit.