With 6 unitary authorities, new Metro Mayors, County Councils as well as Welsh and Scottish elections all in May there has never been a better time to demystify the question on everyone’s pre-election lips – What is Purdah?

Why do we have Purdah?

The idea behind Purdah is simple. Civil servants and local government staff are apolitical, they serve people not political parties. So in the lead up to elections it is important that they, and more importantly Councils, are not influencing the outcome of the election.

What is Purdah?

Purdah is a pre-election period where civil servants and local government staff have stringent rules governing what they can spend money on, and more importantly, what they can say. What this means in practice is that all Council communication, including social media, should not promote or impede a candidate from any political party. Sometimes application is simple – no mentioning of political candidates, no references to political parties and no continual hosting of interested stakeholder’s third-party websites. Unfortunately, not all cases are this clear cut.

Where Purdah can be a hindrance for civil servants is when it comes to controversial campaigns. Some campaigns, particularly in politically divisive Boroughs, can help serve the interest of one party more than another. So Councils are required to stop all communication relating to these campaigns. On the one hand, it is imperative that no public money is spent on a political candidate, but often the delay in promotion leaves these campaigns sitting on a back shelf never to be picked up again.

For the most part Purdah sees very little change in the day-to-day running of Council services. All essential services and some campaigns run as normal throughout the period. You will also notice that Councils will still encourage people to vote – they just won’t be telling you who to vote for.

Purdah and planning

Purdah, crucially, does not affect the normal granting of everyday planning permissions nor should it affect the majority of planning committees. However, controversial schemes can be subject to same rules as controversial campaigns. Although uncommon, very controversial decisions may be deferred to after the elections. Aside from decisions there will be very little, if any, news from planning departments, with most major policy announcements made outside of Purdah.

How long is Purdah?

In theory the length of Purdah can vary from Council to Council provided that they follow Government outlines, however, it tends to be around 5-6 weeks. This year, with all elections taking place on 4th May 2017 the latest date that Purdah can start is 27th March 2017.

Purdah: comes from the Persian word "pardeh" meaning "curtain" or "veil".