Question

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2014, Official Report, columns 267-8W, on general election 2010, if the Electoral Commission will make it its policy to hold information on ward level turnout for general as well as local elections.

The Electoral Commission informs me that legislation specifies what data Returning Officers (ROs) must currently record and report to the Commission, and the list of required data does not include ward level electoral data for UK Parliamentary General Elections. The Commission's current view is that the likely benefits of it collecting this data are insufficient to justify the additional burden it would impose on ROs and their staff. The Commission will continue to collect electoral data at constituency level for UK Parliamentary General elections.