Town and parish elections to cost more, Telford team leader warns
Town and parish elections will cost councils more this year than they have on the last two occasions, election chiefs in Telford have said.
The 2015 and 2011 local elections coincided with two UK-wide polls, so central government stepped in to share the costs.
But this year’s election, on May 2, will be stand-alone, so the cost will be borne by councils alone.
Figures from Telford & Wrekin elections team leader Dave Bowen say uncontested wards will cost £140 to administer, while contested polls could cost up to £1,000 per seat.
Mr Bowen gave the estimate in his letter to town and parish clerks across the borough.
He writes: “I am sorry that it is a bit later than usual and, given the size of the contribution, after you have set your precept.
“If it would make budgeting easier we could certainly arrange for repayments to be made over a longer period of, say, two or four years.
“The costs of the election are apportioned between the borough and the parishes.
“To do this fairly we use a number of factors including: number of electors, number of postal voters, number of polling stations and the number of contests that took place in 2015.
“These estimated costs are higher than the charges requested from you for the 2011 and 2015 local elections.
“On both previous occasions, a national election took place on the same day as the local elections, so around half of the overall costs were passed to central government, and the parishes and borough council shared the remainder.”
The 2015 local elections coincided with a general election, and the 2011 local elections took place alongside a UK-wide referendum where the country voted by 68 per cent and Telford and Wrekin voted by 72 per cent against adopting the “alternative vote” system for electing MPs.
Mr Bowen wrote: “This year, the only elections due to take place on May 2 are the local borough and parish elections. Therefore, the total costs can be shared only between the borough council and parishes.
“Regrettably, this has had a significant impact on the final estimated amount that your council will be charged if all your seats are contested.”
His letter to St Georges and Priorslee Parish Council – which has two wards and 11 elected members – estimated a cost of £11,461, if all wards see contested elections.
A similar letter to The Gorge Parish Council, with three wards and eight members, gave an estimate of £4,007.
Uncontested wards, where the number of candidates is equal to or less than the number of seats available so no election is necessary, will cost a flat rate of £140, Mr Bowen wrote.
Story by Alex Moore, local democracy reporter
