Guidance for Candidates at Parish council elections in England

The spending report is known as a ‘return’.

This should include the following for each item of spending:1

• what the spending was for – for example, leaflets or advertising
• the name and address of the supplier
• the amount or value
• details of when it was incurred and paid
• details of any unpaid or disputed amounts
• details of any notional spending, and a declaration of its value
• invoices or receipts for any payment of £10 or over
• details of any personal expenses

There is more information on the details that you need to report in Candidate spending.

The spending return must be accompanied by a declaration to verify the return.2  It is your responsibility to fully and accurately report candidate spending.

It is a criminal offence to make a false declaration knowingly.3

Forms you will need:

Beta version of new nil return

A common query we have from candidates at parish elections is whether they must still complete the return and declaration even if they have not incurred any spending or received any donations.

The answer is that the law does still require a return and declaration to be submitted.

To make it simpler for these candidates, we have produced a nil return:

Like in the normal return, the declaration is included as a separate page in the same document.

If you use the new nil return, we would love to hear from you, to tell us how it worked and identify any other areas for improvement. Please send any feedback to [email protected]