Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 29 September (HL2635), what period the agreed full cost support for local authorities to implement the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill will cover.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
These costs will be covered by Central Government under the New Burdens doctrine, until such time as they can be mainstreamed into the grants provided to Local Authorities in accordance with usual practice.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what upper limit will be set for the highest acceptable number of people turned away from polling stations because of a lack of appropriate photographic voter ID.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government in its manifesto committed to protecting the integrity of our democracy by introducing identification to vote at polling stations. Stealing someone’s vote is stealing their voice. Voter fraud is a crime that we cannot allow room for and we must stamp out any potential for it to take place in elections.
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the required forms of photographic identification, can apply for a free, local Voter Card from their local authority. The Electoral Commission will provide a comprehensive, targeted communications campaign and guidance, raising awareness throughout the electorate of the new voter identification requirements.
As set out in the Elections Bill, Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales and Returning Officers in Scotland will be required to keep a record of those people for whom a ballot paper was refused and the reasons for this refusal.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether returning officers will be required to retain data on the number of people who are turned away from polling stations because they do not have appropriate photographic voter ID and who (1) subsequently return with such ID, or (2) do not return to vote.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government in its manifesto committed to protecting the integrity of our democracy by introducing identification to vote at polling stations. Stealing someone’s vote is stealing their voice. Voter fraud is a crime that we cannot allow room for and we must stamp out any potential for it to take place in elections.
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the required forms of photographic identification, can apply for a free, local Voter Card from their local authority. The Electoral Commission will provide a comprehensive, targeted communications campaign and guidance, raising awareness throughout the electorate of the new voter identification requirements.
As set out in the Elections Bill, Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales and Returning Officers in Scotland will be required to keep a record of those people for whom a ballot paper was refused and the reasons for this refusal.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the voter identification pilot schemes, what estimate they have made of the number of people who could be turned away from polling stations in a General Election.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government in its manifesto committed to protecting the integrity of our democracy by introducing identification to vote at polling stations. Stealing someone’s vote is stealing their voice. Voter fraud is a crime that we cannot allow room for and we must stamp out any potential for it to take place in elections.
Everyone who is eligible to vote will have the opportunity to do so. Any eligible voter who does not have one of the required forms of photographic identification, can apply for a free, local Voter Card from their local authority. The Electoral Commission will provide a comprehensive, targeted communications campaign and guidance, raising awareness throughout the electorate of the new voter identification requirements.
As set out in the Elections Bill, Electoral Registration Officers in England and Wales and Returning Officers in Scotland will be required to keep a record of those people for whom a ballot paper was refused and the reasons for this refusal.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the (1) costs, and (2) resource requirements, that will be needed to implement the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill (HC Bill 138).
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
An Impact Assessment, which includes information on the cost and resource requirements for voter identification, was published (attached) alongside the Elections Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3020/publications.
HMG will cover the costs for local authorities and will continue the detailed planning ahead of implementation nationally, working closely with those who will be responsible for delivery including Local Authorities, the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding (1) they have provided, or (2) intend to provide, for (a) staff, and (b) resources, to (i) the Electoral Commission, and (ii) local authorities, to implement the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill (HC Bill 138).
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
An Impact Assessment, which includes information on the cost and resource requirements for voter identification, was published (attached) alongside the Elections Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3020/publications.
HMG will cover the costs for local authorities and will continue the detailed planning ahead of implementation nationally, working closely with those who will be responsible for delivery including Local Authorities, the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what work they are currently undertaking to prepare for the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill (HC Bill 138).
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
An Impact Assessment, which includes information on the cost and resource requirements for voter identification, was published (attached) alongside the Elections Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3020/publications.
HMG will cover the costs for local authorities and will continue the detailed planning ahead of implementation nationally, working closely with those who will be responsible for delivery including Local Authorities, the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation in the report by the Devolution All-Party Parliamentary Group Levelling-up Devo: the role of national government in making a success of devolution in England, published on 9 March, calling for a National Devolution Baseline for England.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We welcome this report and demonstrate our clear commitment to devolution through our ambitious programme of 9 devolution deals which include £7.49 billion worth of investment over 30-years. 37% of residents in England are now served by directly elected city region mayors - including almost 50% in the North (growing to 41% of England and 62% of the North following this Spring’s mayoral election in the West Yorkshire Combined Authority). We will set out our plans for further devolution in a white paper in due course.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in the report by the Devolution All-Party Parliamentary Group Levelling-up Devo: the role of national government in making a success of devolution in England, published on 9 March.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We welcome this report and demonstrate our clear commitment to devolution through our ambitious programme of 9 devolution deals which include £7.49 billion worth of investment over 30-years. 37% of residents in England are now served by directly elected city region mayors - including almost 50% in the North (growing to 41% of England and 62% of the North following this Spring’s mayoral election in the West Yorkshire Combined Authority). We will set out our plans for further devolution in a white paper in due course.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation in the report by the Devolution All-Party Parliamentary Group Levelling-up Devo: the role of national government in making a success of devolution in England, published on 9 March, to "move away from a pattern of piecemeal, fragmented and short-term interventions” and “towards a localist settlement that gives councils the powers and resources to drive green and inclusive growth that meets the needs of their communities".
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We welcome this report and demonstrate our clear commitment to devolution through our ambitious programme of 9 devolution deals which include £7.49 billion worth of investment over 30-years. 37% of residents in England are now served by directly elected city region mayors - including almost 50% in the North (growing to 41% of England and 62% of the North following this Spring’s mayoral election in the West Yorkshire Combined Authority). Any recommendations relating to new government investment would be a matter for the Spending Review.