Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the costs of administering the voter ID requirements for elections will be paid from council budgets or Government funding.

In line with longstanding government policy, new burdens funding has been provided to local authorities to clear additional costs as a result of these changes.

Electoral fraud undermines the fundamental right to vote in free and fair elections. Photographic voter identification has operated successfully in Northern Ireland since 2003 when introduced by the last Labour Government.