There is a legal requirement for all candidates to ensure expense declarations are completed accurately and submitted on time.
For parliamentary and local government elections, declarations of election expenses must be submitted to the returning officer, or proper officer for local government elections, within 35 days after the election result is declared. If a candidate has an election agent then they must deal with this although the candidate must also return a signed declaration which goes with the return.
For parish council elections the time limit is 28 days for the delivery to the proper officer of the council.
Candidates are not reimbursed by the council or returning officer for any money spent on their campaign.
Election expenses returns are available for public inspection on request.