Electoral Administration Bill

I might declare an interest here. Generally, elections are mostly paid for by the people in the area. Essex County Council paid £1 million for elections last year. I am pleased to hear about the £3,000. Presumably that is for each local authority. In Essex that would be an encouragement to vote. It is a different system of election funding. The Minister is suggesting that the £3,000 is probably to encourage extra voting, as an additional amount to what is already being provided through different systems for the election campaign.