Question

To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the Electoral Commission's Electoral Administration Bulletin Issue 173, published in December 2016, for what reasons the Commission does not provide an online polling station finder service directly; and if the Commission will publish the minutes of meetings held which resulted in the decision not to collate that information internally.

The Electoral Commission continually monitors technological developments in order to provide the best possible service to voters. When the Commission started to explore the possibility of providing polling station locations on its website, Democracy Club had already done a lot of work in this area and had already amassed significant expertise on how best to collate and provide this data. The Commission took the view that it would represent better value for money for the taxpayer to work with and further support Democracy Club rather than restart the work they had already commenced.

Items that are discussed at the Commission Board are formally minuted and these are placed on the Commission’s website. The decision to work with Democracy Club was not made at Board level, but by a member of the Commission’s executive team as a matter of ongoing business. The decision was not minuted.

The Commission continues to work with Democracy Club ahead of the polls in May 2017. It is taking an active role in encouraging local authorities to provide their data to Democracy Club so that as many voters as possible can benefit from the service.