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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 114 of the Elections Strategy, published in July 2024, what types of information will be shared through the Electoral Commission's statutory gateway for the purpose of assisting the relevant body to carrying out its functions that it is not currently able to share.

The Electoral Commission currently lacks an explicit statutory gateway to share information with other regulators and enforcement authorities, making routine information-sharing burdensome and impeding effective cooperation. The Government therefore intends to give the Commission an explicit statutory gateway to share information with certain regulators and enforcement authorities, provided that it is for the purpose of assisting the relevant body in carrying out its statutory functions. Providing a solid legal foundation for disclosing relevant information will nurture a collaborative regulatory environment on cross-cutting issues like data protection and digital campaigning. Any disclosures will remain subject to UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Alongside other proposals in the Elections Strategy, we will legislate to bring forward this measure as soon as parliamentary time allows.