Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who will apply for a voter authority certificate; and how many and what proportion of those people have been issued with a certificate.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the UQ response here, to the Cabinet Office published survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, and to the New Burdens funding methodology for the Elections Act 2022 available here.
Information regarding applications for Voter Authority Certificates is published online. The rejection of an application is a matter for the relevant Electoral Registration Officer.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of applications for voter authority certificates have been rejected; and what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who will require a voter authority certificate.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the UQ response here, to the Cabinet Office published survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, and to the New Burdens funding methodology for the Elections Act 2022 available here.
Information regarding applications for Voter Authority Certificates is published online. The rejection of an application is a matter for the relevant Electoral Registration Officer.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an estimate on the number of eligible voters who may be unable to vote at polling stations due to the new Voter ID legislation because of a lack of (a) acceptable ID and (b) awareness of the new requirements.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Hon. Member to the UQ response here, to the Cabinet Office published survey on levels of ownership of photographic identification, and to the New Burdens funding methodology for the Elections Act 2022 available here.
Information regarding applications for Voter Authority Certificates is published online. The rejection of an application is a matter for the relevant Electoral Registration Officer.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which security features he is considering recommending on the (a) free voter authority certificates and (b) anonymous elector’s document required in May 2023.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Schedule 1 of the Elections Act 2022 sets out the forms of identification that will be accepted at polling stations in order to receive a ballot paper. Driving licences are an accepted form of identification, and this includes provisional driving licences.
Everyone who is eligible to vote will continue to have the opportunity to do so. Research has shown that the overwhelming majority of electors already have accepted identification. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the wide range of acceptable forms of photographic identification will be able to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate from their local authority.
The Electoral Commission will deliver a national communications campaign for voter identification. Funding will be provided to local authorities to cover additional costs as a result of the changes, in line with established government policy. Further information will be announced in due course in the appropriate way.
A range of security features will be present on both the Voter Authority Certificate and Anonymous Elector's Document and these have been developed in conjunction with suppliers and HM Passport Office.
There will be overt security measures present to allow quick and easy confirmation should a document's validity be in question. However, it is established good practice not to publish the full details of all security features, as doing so would expose them to those who may attempt to forge or tamper with them. Withholding a degree of information is essential to ensure these documents' security remains intact.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will ensure that ancient woodlands in the Lancashire County Council area continue to be protected in the event that they are located in an area which is to become an investment zone.
Answered by Lee Rowley
The Government is committed to protecting, and where possible enhancing, our environmental assets. Policy announcements will be made in the usual way.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether it is his Department's policy that the Policy and Strategy Statement to the Electoral Commission should instruct the Commission.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission will set out guidance and principles to which the Electoral Commission must have regard in the discharge of its functions.
The duty to have regard to the Statement will not replace or undermine the Commission's other statutory duties or give the Government powers to direct the Commission's decision making. The Commission will remain operationally independent and governed by its Commissioners.
The Government has consistently set out on the record, that the Statement is a necessary and proportionate approach to reforming the accountability of the Electoral Commission to the UK Parliament whilst respecting its operational independence.
I also refer the hon. Member to the draft statement published for consultation on 22 August, which illustrates how the Statement will improve accountability of the Electoral Commission and help protect the integrity of our democracy.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the requirement to provide support to civic events marking the coronation of His Majesty the King on 6 May 2023 on the capacity of local government officials and returning officers to carry out elections to both parish councils and other tiers of local government on 4 May 2023 and election counts on 5 and 6 May 2023; and if he will take steps to provide additional support to councils to carry out those elections.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We understand that communities across the country will want to join in celebrating the Coronation of His Majesty the King on 6 May 2023 and that local authorities and their staff will, as ever, have a critical role in facilitating those celebrations. We are considering across Government any potential impacts on public service delivery, and this of course includes the delivery of scheduled local elections.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reductions in local authority funding on levelling up.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
We have not reduced local government funding. We are making available £54.1 billion to local government in England through this year's Settlement, an increase of up to £3.7 billion from last year, including over £1 billion specifically for adult social care pressures.
Through this year’s settlement, the most relatively deprived areas of England will receive 14% more per dwelling in available resource than the least deprived areas.
For Lancashire County Council, this represents a cash-terms increase in Core Spending Power of up to 8.2% compared to last year, worth £71.8 million.
For Lancaster City Council, this is a cash-terms increase of up to 3.9% and for Wyre Council, this represents a cash-terms increase in Core Spending Power of up to 6.8%.