Asked by: Graeme Morrice (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that those members of the armed forces who are entitled to vote in the Scottish independence referendum but will not be resident in Scotland on 18 September 2014 are being given the option to vote by post or use a proxy.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
No estimate has been made of the number of Armed Forces personnel who are entitled to vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum.
The Ministry of Defence has taken a number of steps to ensure those entitled to vote are able to. It has;
Issued an internal instruction, which details the arrangements to vote in the referendum, including the franchise, the importance of being registered and the various options for casting a vote;
Published our annual instruction which sets out the arrangements for electoral registration to enable Service personnel and their spouses or civil partners to vote. This highlighted the Scottish independence referendum and included information on legislation passed by the Scottish Government that allows the 16 and 17 year old children of Service personnel living outside Scotland to vote in the referendum if they would, were it not for their parent's Service obligations, be eligible to register to vote;
Launched our annual information campaign on Service voting to encourage Service personnel and their families to register to vote; this also highlights the forthcoming referendum in Scotland and requires all ships, units and stations to provide assistance and information to serving personnel and their families to encourage them to register to vote;
Engaged with the three Service Families Federations and the HIVE network to ensure that information about how to register to vote in the Scottish independence referendum reaches as many families as possible, and;
Published articles on the Defence Intranet and provided links to relevant websites for further information and to register to vote. The single Services and the Service Families Federations have also published articles in their various magazines to reach a wide audience.
An internal reminder about the referendum in Scotland to encourage all eligible personnel and their families to register to vote is due to be published shortly.
Asked by: Graeme Morrice (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of serving members of the armed forces who are entitled to vote in the Scottish independence referendum but will not be resident in Scotland on 18 September 2014.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
No estimate has been made of the number of Armed Forces personnel who are entitled to vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum.
The Ministry of Defence has taken a number of steps to ensure those entitled to vote are able to. It has;
Issued an internal instruction, which details the arrangements to vote in the referendum, including the franchise, the importance of being registered and the various options for casting a vote;
Published our annual instruction which sets out the arrangements for electoral registration to enable Service personnel and their spouses or civil partners to vote. This highlighted the Scottish independence referendum and included information on legislation passed by the Scottish Government that allows the 16 and 17 year old children of Service personnel living outside Scotland to vote in the referendum if they would, were it not for their parent's Service obligations, be eligible to register to vote;
Launched our annual information campaign on Service voting to encourage Service personnel and their families to register to vote; this also highlights the forthcoming referendum in Scotland and requires all ships, units and stations to provide assistance and information to serving personnel and their families to encourage them to register to vote;
Engaged with the three Service Families Federations and the HIVE network to ensure that information about how to register to vote in the Scottish independence referendum reaches as many families as possible, and;
Published articles on the Defence Intranet and provided links to relevant websites for further information and to register to vote. The single Services and the Service Families Federations have also published articles in their various magazines to reach a wide audience.
An internal reminder about the referendum in Scotland to encourage all eligible personnel and their families to register to vote is due to be published shortly.
Asked by: Graeme Morrice (Labour - Livingston)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.
Answered by Anna Soubry
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Science, and Technology (Mr Philip Dunne) on 2 April 2014 (Official Report, column 730W) to the hon. Member for Leicester South (Mr Jonathan Ashworth).