To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many candidates in each of the general elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987 failed to submit a return of their election expenses to the returning officer, and in how many cases prosecutions have been instituted as the result of such failures.

The information requested is as follows:

	1979	1983	1987
Number of candidates who failed to submit a return within the statutory period allowed	19	21	15
Number of prosecutions	4	1—	2—
1 None.
2 Not yet available.

I understand that the Director of Public Prosecutions has not yet decided in every case whether to institute proceedings in respect of the candidates who failed to submit a return after the 1987 general election.