Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Senedd elections

Personal expenses

Candidates who are not acting as their own agent must provide a written statement of their personal expenses to their agent no later than 21 calendar days after the election result is declared.1

Invoices

After the election, the agent must make sure that:

• all invoices are received no later than 21 calendar days after the election result is declared2
• all invoices are paid no later than 28 calendar days after the election result is declared3

Return and declarations

The agent must submit to the Returning Officer:

• an election spending return reporting details of the candidate’s spending and donations
• a declaration confirming the return is complete and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief

no later than 35 calendar days after the election result is declared.4

Both the agent and the candidate must submit declarations that the return is complete and accurate.5 There are separate declaration forms for this. If the candidate is acting as their own agent, they only need to complete the candidate declaration.

Candidates who are not acting as their own agent must send the Returning Officer a declaration within seven working days of the return being submitted.6 If the candidate is outside the United Kingdom when the declaration is due, the deadline for submitting their declaration is extended to 14 days after they come back.7

You must still submit a return even if you haven’t spent any money.8 This is called a ‘nil return’.

There are consequences for failure to submit spending returns. These are set out in what happens if a spending return or declaration isn’t submitted?

Please note that if the deadline for any of the above falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline will move to the next working day. This is included within the following deadline calculations.

Invoices received or paid outside of the deadlines

If you do not receive an invoice for your candidate spending within 21 calendar days of the result being declared, you must not pay it without getting a court order to do so.9 These are known in the law as ‘unpaid claims’.

Similarly, if you do not pay an invoice received on time within 28 calendar days of the deadline for receiving invoices, you must not pay it after that time without getting a court order to do so.10 These are known in the law as ‘disputed claims’.

You should make your suppliers aware of this.

Obtaining a court order to pay invoices received late or remaining unpaid after the deadline is known as leave to pay. Leave to pay may be obtained by you or the supplier applying to the relevant court to obtain a court judgement or order for payment. It is an offence to make a payment for these claims without obtaining leave to pay.11  

Any claim paid:

• after the 21-day deadline for receipt, or
• after the 28-day deadline for payments

following a successful application to the court and after the deadline for submission of election spending returns, must be reported in writing to the Returning Officer within seven days of payment and be accompanied by a copy of the court order.12

You should also forward a copy of the Order to the Electoral Commission.