1. How many staff did the council have in employment exclusively to work in the elections services team at each of the following elections?
a) General Election 2015: Six
b) General Election 2017: Four
c) General Election 2019: Five
d) May 2021 round of elections: Five

2. What was the total budget for the electoral services team in each of the following years?
a) 2016:£313,690.00
b) 2017: £291,040.83
c) 2018: £283,858.00
d) 2019: £335,370.00
e) 2020: £374,670.00
f) 2021: £396,230.00

3. Could you please provide me with the estimated or actual amount of money spent by the local authority on each of the following items when administering the a) General Election 2015 b) General Election 2017 c) General Election 2019 d) May 2021 elections?
i. Printing of Postal Votes
ii. Distribution of Postal Votes
iii. Staff time for manning polling stations including 'Covid Ambassadors/Information Officers' to welcome voters
iv. Hiring Polling Station Venues
v. Hiring of Count Venues
vi. Additional infrastructure to ensure the process was COVID 'secure' (eg individual pencils, Perspex screens, hand sanitiser)

4. How many Presiding Officers worked on each of the following elections in your council area?
a) General Election 2015
b) General Election 2017
c) General Election 2019
d) May 2021 round of elections

5. How many Polling Clerks worked on each of the following elections in your council area?
a) General Election 2015
b) General Election 2017
c) General Election 2019
d) May 2021 round of elections

6. How much money was spent on training Presiding Officers and Polling Clerks at each of the following elections?
a) General Election 2015
b) General Election 2017
c) General Election 2019
d) May 2021 round of elections

7. How many 'tendered' ballot papers were issued in your council area for each of the following elections?
a) General Election 2015
b) General Election 2017
c) General Election 2019
d) May 2021 round of elections

8. Were all candidates/parties that were properly nominated on the final ballot paper given to voters at the May 2021 round of elections?

Under the time constraints with all of the post election work it has not been possible for our Electoral Services team to collate the information, and any financial information about the May 2021 polls is still being worked out. The request refers to council area at parliamentary elections which involves the Reading East, Bracknell and Maidenhead Constituencies so we don’t hold all of the necessary information.

Questions 3 to 8 relate to information held by the Returning Officer. While it is considered good practice to be transparent and generally provide information requested by an FOI, the Returning Officer is under no legal obligation to do so as they are not listed in Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act. As questions 1 and 2 are fairly straight forward and quick to respond, our Electoral Services team were able to answer these two questions.