1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Returning Officer's Charges (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 and shall come into force on 17th March 1992.

(2) This Order extends to Northern Ireland only.

(3) The Returning Officer's Charges (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(2) is hereby revoked.

2.-(1) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of section 29(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (which provides that a returning officer is entitled to recover his charges in respect of services properly rendered or expenses properly incurred for or in connection with a parliamentary election if the services or expenses are of a kind specified in an order made under that provision and the charges are reasonable), expenses of a kind described in paragraphs 1(1), 2(1), 3(1) and 4(1) of Part A of the Schedule to this Order (hereafter referred to as "expenses specified in Part A of the Schedule") and expenses of a kind described in Part B of the Schedule to this Order are hereby specified.

(2) The maximum recoverable amounts at a contested election in respect of the expenses specified in Part A of the Schedule are hereby specified as the amounts set out in the right-hand column of that Part in respect of each entry set out opposite thereto in the left-hand column of that Part.

(3) The maximum recoverable amount at an uncontested election is hereby specified as £795.78 in respect of the expenses specified in Part A of the Schedule.

(4) In the Schedule to this Order-

(a)"election" means a parliamentary election, and

(b)any reference to the register of electors is to the register of electors used at the election at which the expenses were incurred and to that register as first published.

SCHEDULEEXPENSES IN RESPECT OF WHICH A RETURNING OFFICER AT A PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND MAY RECOVER HIS CHARGES

PART AEXPENSES OF RETURNING OFFICER FOR WHICH MAXIMUM RECOVERABLE AMOUNTS ARE SPECIFIED

PART BEXPENSES OF RETURNING OFFICER FOR WHICH NO MAXIMUM RECOVERABLE AMOUNTS ARE SPECIFIED

1. Travelling and overnight subsistence expenses of-

(a)the returning officer;

(b)any presiding officer or poll clerk; and

(c)any clerical or other assistants employed by the returning officer.

2. Expenses in printing or otherwise producing the ballot papers.

3. Expenses in printing or otherwise producing the official poll cards and in delivering them to the voters, excluding the expenses referred to in paragraph 3(1) of Part A of this Schedule.

4. Expenses in printing or otherwise producing and, where appropriate, publishing notices and other documents required by the Representation of the People Acts.

5. Expenses in renting, heating, lighting and cleaning any building or room.

6. Expenses in adapting any building or room and in restoring it to a fit condition for its normal use.

7. Expenses in the provision of voting compartments and any other furniture necessary for polling stations.

8. Expenses in the provision of ballot boxes and instruments to stamp on the ballot papers the official mark.

9. Expenses in the conveyance to and from the polling stations of-

(a)the ballot boxes and ballot papers, and

(b)the voting compartments, any other furniture necessary for polling stations and the instruments to stamp on the ballot papers the official mark.

10. Expenses in the provision of stationery and writing implements and in postage, telephone and bank charges and other miscellaneous items.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, which applies in Northern Ireland, revokes and replaces the Returning Officer's Charges (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 ("the 1991 Order").

Under section 29(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (as substituted by the Representation of the People Act 1991), the entitlement of a returning officer at a parliamentary election to recover his charges in respect of his expenses for or in connection with such an election depends upon-

(a)the expenses being of a kind specified in an order under that provision,

(b)the expenses being properly incurred, and

(c)the charges in respect of them being reasonable.

Parts A and B of the Schedule to this Order specify the kinds of expenses incurred by a returning officer for or in connection with a parliamentary election in respect of which he is entitled to recover his charges, together (in the case of Part A) with the maximum recoverable amounts in respect of those charges. The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is the returning officer for each constituency in Northern Ireland by virtue of section 26 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. Part A of the Schedule to this Order increases the maximum recoverable amounts from those that were specified in the equivalent provisions in the 1991 Order. Paragraph 3 of Part A of the Schedule has been simplified by the omission of references to the manual preparation of official poll cards that are no longer appropriate since a computer is now used in the production of those cards. The basis for calculating the returning officer's other expenses under Part A of the Schedule to this Order has been slightly changed. This Order also makes minor drafting changes.