Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to pause (a) Parliamentary constituency and (b) local election boundary reviews until every area covered by the respective authority has concluded its automatic registration process.

Everyone who is eligible to register to vote should be able, supported and encouraged to do so. The sole aim of moving towards automated registration is to increase the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will test automated registration in a range of different locations and settings, with different characteristics and challenges, to ensure anything we implement permanently works for everyone. We will be guided throughout by principles of fairness and open engagement. We are consulting a range of stakeholders to develop this programme, including the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, local authorities and civil society organisations. We will also continue to offer engagement with political parties.

The Parliamentary and Local Government Boundary Commission for England are independent of Government. The timings of Parliamentary Boundary Reviews are set by legislation, and the Government

has no plans to bring forward legislation to amend these. The timings of local electoral reviews in England are decided by the Local Boundary Commission for England, who will continue to make these decisions independently of Government.