Guidance for Returning Officers administering Local Government Elections in England

A casual vacancy occurs when an elected member ceases to be an elected member as a result of, for example, their death, resignation, becoming disqualified, or being no longer qualified to remain elected.1
 
When a casual vacancy occurs, usually, but not always, it will lead to a by-election.

Resignation

An elected member can resign at any time by giving written notice of their resignation to the Proper Officer of the authority.2 The resignation takes effect as soon as the notice of resignation is received and this is the date that the casual vacancy is deemed to have occurred.3 There is no provision for a resignation to be withdrawn once it is given.

Failure to sign the declaration of acceptance of office

Once elected, a person must sign a declaration stating that they accept the position of an elected member before they can sit or vote at any meeting.5
 
The declaration must be made by the person elected and delivered to the Proper Officer of the authority within two months of the date of poll.6 If no declaration of acceptance is made, the seat will automatically become vacant.7  

Failure to attend meetings

If an elected member fails to attend any meetings of the authority for a period of six months without being subject to any of the special exceptions listed below, they will cease to be qualified to be a member of the authority.9

This applies to failure to attend full meetings of the council and any meeting of the authority, its committees or joint boards. Where a member acts as a representative of the local authority with another organisation, attendance of any meetings of that body is also classed as a qualifying meeting provided that the elected member is a member of the body concerned. The special exceptions are where:

• the authority has resolved during the period to excuse a particular member from missing a meeting10   
• the member is serving in the armed forces at a time of war or emergency and the Secretary of State decides they should not lose their seat due to their service11    
• the member is suspended from office12

Once an elected member has missed meetings for a period of six months without being subject to a special exception, the council must formally declare the seat to be vacant. This must be done immediately, six months after their last attendance. The date of the vacancy is the date on which the council makes the declaration.13  

Death of an elected member

A casual vacancy occurs on the date of an elected member’s death.14

Decision of an election court

Where there has been a decision of an election court that the election of a particular elected member was void, the casual vacancy occurs on the date of the certificate by an election court stating that the election was void.

Disqualification

There are a number of disqualifications that may apply to an elected member during their term of office.15 Typical examples are:

• taking up paid employment with the authority they have been elected to
• taking a politically restricted post in any local authority
• becoming the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order 
• being sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 3 months or more without the option of a fine 
• being subject to the notification requirement of or under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003

Further information on disqualifications can be found in Part 1 – Can you stand for election? of our guidance for candidates and agents at principal area elections and parish elections.

Where someone becomes disqualified from acting as an elected member, the authority must declare the seat to be vacant as soon as possible after it becomes aware of the fact.16 However, where the disqualification relates to a conviction, time must be allowed for any appeal to be made and dealt with and the casual vacancy only arises once the relevant time period has expired.17

Losing the qualification of being a registered elector

Most qualifications only apply at the time of a candidate’s nomination and their election. However, if someone is only qualified to be elected and be an elected member as a result of being a registered elector and they are subsequently removed from the register, they are no longer qualified to act as an elected member.

Whether or not a person only qualifies to be an elected member as a result of being a registered elector is a matter of fact and does not simply link back to the information they provided on their consent to nomination when standing for election. A person may have only indicated that they qualified on the basis of being a registered elector, but they may still meet one or more of the other qualifications. It is only where they do not meet any of the qualifications, irrespective of what they indicated in their nomination papers, that the vacancy would arise.