Clause 22 - Financial provisions
European Parliament (Representation) Bill
10:00 am
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
Clause 21(3) provides the powers to make detailed arrangements regarding the financial authorisation set out in subsections (1) and (2) and by the words in italics in subsection (3). The provisions in italics were the subject of the money resolution. By agreeing to subsections (1) and (2) and the words in italics in subsection (3) in that resolution, Parliament has given its authority in principle for the expenditure of those funds.
I shall set out the Government's intention in that regard and then explain why clause 22(3) has been so drafted. Clearly, elections cost money. The expenses of the local returning officer and the registration officer for Gibraltar must be met. It is our intention that that should be achieved in the same way as it is achieved in the United Kingdom. In European elections, the returning officer's expenses—the bulk of the expenditure for an election—should be met by the UK Consolidated Fund. In other words, the UK Government will pay for the returning officer in Gibraltar, as it pays for the returning officer in the UK. The registration officer's expenses, however, are met locally.