Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2020 to Question 4773 on Russia: Subversion, how long the process to establish the new Intelligence and Security Committee will take.
Answered by Oliver Dowden
Members are appointed by the Houses of Parliament (having been nominated by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition). The Chair of the Committee is elected by its Members.
Nominations require careful consideration and consultation. The committee is being formed in the normal way and at a normal pace.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who do not have access to any form of photo ID; and how many of those people are (a) aged between 18 and 25, (b) aged over 65 and (c) BAME voters.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Electoral Commission’s independent statutory evaluation of the 2019 voter ID pilots, found that in elections where photo ID was required, 99.6% of electors coming to polling stations were able to show the right photographic ID and cast their vote.
Locally issued ID was made available by local authorities, free of charge, whenever an elector was unable to produce the required ID. This will also be the case when voter ID is rolled out nationally. In the 2019 photographic ID pilots, of the 34,800 people that voted, only 100 people needed to rely on a Local Elector ID issued by their local authority - 63 voters in Pendle and 27 voters in Woking.
Cabinet Office does not collect or hold data on the total number of people who do not have access to any form of photographic ID. However, based on the Cabinet Office evaluation of the pilots, there is no indication that any consistent demographic was adversely affected by the voter ID models.
Showing ID is something people of all backgrounds already do every day, for example to take out a library book, claim benefits or pick up a parcel from the post office. Proving who you are before you make a decision of huge importance at the ballot box should be no different. As was the case during the pilots, any voter who does not have an approved form of ID will be able to apply, free of charge, for a local electoral ID from their local authority.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been found guilty of voter impersonation in the last 10 years.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Data on any convictions for offences related to personation is not collected or held by the Cabinet Office. The Electoral Commission report on electoral fraud and hold more detailed information which can be found at this link: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/our-views-and-research/our-research/electoral-fraud-data/2018-electoral-fraud-data
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many individuals are at risk of becoming disenfranchised as a result of voter ID requirements.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Voter ID is part of a body of work this Government is delivering to strengthen the integrity of our electoral system and give the public confidence that our elections are secure and fit for the 21st century.
Both the pilots and the Northern Irish experience demonstrate that the requirement to provide ID before voting does not have an adverse effect on turnout or participation.
Any voter who does not have an approved form of ID will be able to apply, free of charge, for a local electoral ID from their local authority to ensure that everyone eligible to vote has the opportunity to.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether an impact assessment was undertaken on the potential effect of voter ID requirements on minority and ethnic communities.
Answered by Chloe Smith
This Government takes its Public Sector Equality Duty extremely seriously. In addition to the pilots, we have consulted, and will continue to consult with a broad range of charities and civil society organisations, to make sure that voter ID will work for everybody.
Based on the evaluations of the independent Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office there is no indication that the ID requirement negatively affected the intention to vote for any consistent specific demographic group across the pilot authorities.
Showing ID is something people of all backgrounds already do every day, for example to take out a library book, claim benefits or pick up a parcel from the post office. Proving who you are before you make a decision of huge importance at the ballot box should be no different. As was the case during the pilots, any voter who does not have an approved form of ID will be able to apply, free of charge, for a local electoral ID from their local authority.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what support he provided to local authority electoral registration officers to ensure that EU citizens had sufficient time to return their declaration forms to vote in the 2019 European elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government took all the legal steps necessary to prepare for the European Parliament elections and put in place all the legislative and funding elements to enable Returning Officers to make their preparations required for the polls on 23 May. We also worked with Returning Officers and the Electoral Commission and other agencies such as the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) to support the smooth running of the polls.
On 5 April the Electoral Commission published guidance for Local Returning Officers and EROs on the upcoming European Parliament elections. In this the Electoral Commission reminded EROs to prepare and issue UC1 forms to EU citizens on the electoral register. It also encouraged EROs to agree plans and timings for postal vote despatch (including how to prioritise the despatch of overseas votes). This latter point covers UK citizens living in EU countries.
On 3 May the Electoral Commission published guidance advising EU citizens to avoid registering to vote using unofficial registration sites. In this guidance, they further stated that “any EU citizen who wants to vote in the European Parliamentary election in the UK must also print, complete and return a declaration form stating that they will only vote in the UK.” This guidance also included a link to the Your Vote Matters website where the form could be downloaded.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department decided not to extend the deadline for EU citizens to return their voter registration and declaration forms for the 2019 European Parliament elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest date in which an EU citizen can submit a European Parliament Voter Registration Form (known as a UC1 form) to register as an elector in the European Parliamentary elections is 12 working days before the date of the election. For the recent European Parliamentary elections that deadline was 7th May. The 12 working day deadline is based on two provisions relating to the application process and the publication of, and alterations to, the register before the election. The provisions are contained in section 13B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and regulation 29 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001; and the equivalent provisions in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008 as applied by Schedule 001 of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001. To change the 12 working day deadline would require changes to the legislation.
The UC1 form implements a requirement under EU law. EU Council Directive 93/109/EC requires all Member States to send the details of any EU citizens’ declarations to the state they are a citizen of “sufficiently in advance of polling day” to ensure an EU citizen does not vote twice in the same European Parliamentary election. This is not a new requirement and has been in place for previous European Parliamentary elections.
On 5 April the Electoral Commission published guidance for Local Returning Officers and EROs on the upcoming European Parliament elections. In this the Electoral Commission reminded EROs to prepare and issue UC1 forms to EU citizens on the electoral register. It also encouraged EROs to agree plans and timings for postal vote despatch (including how to prioritise the despatch of overseas votes). This latter point covers UK citizens living in EU countries.
On 3 May the Electoral Commission published guidance advising EU citizens to avoid registering to vote using unofficial registration sites. In this guidance, they further stated that “any EU citizen who wants to vote in the European Parliamentary election in the UK must also print, complete and return a declaration form stating that they will only vote in the UK.” This guidance also included a link to the Your Vote Matters website where the form could be downloaded.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons EU citizens were not issued with an EU election voter registration and declaration form when they voted in local elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is for individual Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to decide how to fulfil their statutory duty to encourage participation by electors in the electoral process in the area in which they act and take the necessary steps to do so.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2019 to Question 260725 on European Parliament: Elections, which local authorities and electoral administrators he or his ministers have met with since the 2019 EU parliamentary elections; and whether the matter of EU citizens being prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections was discussed at any of those meetings.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ministers and officials meet frequently with local authorities and electoral administrators to discuss
a wide range of electoral issues
Details of external meetings by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are published quarterly and
are available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with representatives of local authorities on EU citizens that were prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
My officials and I meet regularly with representatives of local authorities and electoral administrators to discuss a wide range of electoral issues.
In line with their statutory duty, the Electoral Commission will be publishing a report into the administration of the polls later this year.