Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consular support they offer to UK dual nationals resident in other states of which they also hold citizenship.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Where a dual British national is living or travelling in the country of their other nationality, we would not normally provide consular support or get involved in dealings between them and the authorities of that country. We may make an exception if we consider that the individual is vulnerable because of their specific circumstances, and there are special humanitarian or human rights reasons. The policy is set out here [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/who-the-fcdo-can-support-abroad%23dual-nationals].
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their current estimate of the number of UK dual nationals; whether those estimates include a breakdown of the countries in which they are currently resident; and how many are resident in the other state in which they also hold citizenship.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Wallace of Saltaire
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
20 December 2023
Dear Lord Wallace,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking for the current estimate of the number of UK dual nationals; whether those estimates include a breakdown of the countries in which they are currently resident; and how many are resident in the other state in which they also hold citizenship (HL1310).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) conducted the 2021 Census in England and Wales.
In order to answer your question, the ONS examined census ‘passports held’ data. Table 1 shows the number of dual passport holders resident in England and Wales.
Table 1: Number of dual passport holders resident in England and Wales
| Dual passport (UK + another passport) |
E92000001 England | 1,209,980 |
W92000004 Wales | 26,343 |
Source: Census 2021 (21 March 2021)
For similar data for Northern Ireland and Scotland, please contact the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency [1] (NISRA) and National Records of Scotland [2] (NRS) respectively.
As the Census collected data only from people currently resident in England and Wales at the time of collection, the ONS have no data identifying dual passport holding citizens residing outside England and Wales. This means we are unable to answer the second and third aspects of your question.
As the ONS continues its programme of transforming population and migration statistics, we will explore how to provide additional detail to meet user needs. This will include the possibility of obtaining an estimate of dual citizenship using administrative data as part of that programme.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[2] https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times in the past year outside speakers invited to Civil Service events have had their invitations withdrawn after having their social media accounts vetted; and what criteria were used for such vetting.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We do not centrally collate information on the number of people who are identified as unsuitable for speaking at Government events.
Civil Service Human Resources who sit within the Cabinet Office developed guidance for all Cross-Government Diversity networks. This requires the networks to carry out checks on external speakers prior to inviting them to participate in Civil Service events.
We are aware that some departments (including Cabinet Office) and agencies have adapted this guidance to apply to departmental Diversity Networks and learning events. We do not have a record of how many departments have adapted the guidance or whether they record information on speakers.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the number of voters turned away from polling stations at the elections in May 2023 is recorded and published.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is working closely with the Electoral Commission and local authorities to introduce voter identification at elections from May 2023.
The Electoral Commission is a body independent of the Government and is accountable to the UK Parliament. Funding of its duties including public awareness raising campaigns is a matter for the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
The Voter Authority Certificate Application Service will go live on 16 January 2023 and updates on applications will be provided in due course.
Data will be collected by Returning Officers, including on incidences of electors not providing acceptable voter identification in polling stations, to inform the Electoral Commission and DLUHC evaluations of polls in May and the two future UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The department has an extensive change network including local authorities, Valuation Joint Boards, and electoral organisations which is supporting the implementation of voter identification in May 2023 and beyond.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to delaying the implementation of Voter ID, given the concerns expressed by the Association of Election Administrators, the Local Government Association, and Electoral Commission.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is working closely with the Electoral Commission and local authorities to introduce voter identification at elections from May 2023.
The Electoral Commission is a body independent of the Government and is accountable to the UK Parliament. Funding of its duties including public awareness raising campaigns is a matter for the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
The Voter Authority Certificate Application Service will go live on 16 January 2023 and updates on applications will be provided in due course.
Data will be collected by Returning Officers, including on incidences of electors not providing acceptable voter identification in polling stations, to inform the Electoral Commission and DLUHC evaluations of polls in May and the two future UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The department has an extensive change network including local authorities, Valuation Joint Boards, and electoral organisations which is supporting the implementation of voter identification in May 2023 and beyond.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there will be publicly available statistics showing how many people have applied for an ID on the Voter ID website.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is working closely with the Electoral Commission and local authorities to introduce voter identification at elections from May 2023.
The Electoral Commission is a body independent of the Government and is accountable to the UK Parliament. Funding of its duties including public awareness raising campaigns is a matter for the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
The Voter Authority Certificate Application Service will go live on 16 January 2023 and updates on applications will be provided in due course.
Data will be collected by Returning Officers, including on incidences of electors not providing acceptable voter identification in polling stations, to inform the Electoral Commission and DLUHC evaluations of polls in May and the two future UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The department has an extensive change network including local authorities, Valuation Joint Boards, and electoral organisations which is supporting the implementation of voter identification in May 2023 and beyond.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide extra funding to the Electoral Commission to enable a bigger publicity campaign to be run over a shorter timescale to highlight the requirement to present photo voter ID.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is working closely with the Electoral Commission and local authorities to introduce voter identification at elections from May 2023.
The Electoral Commission is a body independent of the Government and is accountable to the UK Parliament. Funding of its duties including public awareness raising campaigns is a matter for the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
The Voter Authority Certificate Application Service will go live on 16 January 2023 and updates on applications will be provided in due course.
Data will be collected by Returning Officers, including on incidences of electors not providing acceptable voter identification in polling stations, to inform the Electoral Commission and DLUHC evaluations of polls in May and the two future UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The department has an extensive change network including local authorities, Valuation Joint Boards, and electoral organisations which is supporting the implementation of voter identification in May 2023 and beyond.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Electoral Commission about when the publicity campaign for the Voter ID website will commence.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is working closely with the Electoral Commission and local authorities to introduce voter identification at elections from May 2023.
The Electoral Commission is a body independent of the Government and is accountable to the UK Parliament. Funding of its duties including public awareness raising campaigns is a matter for the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
The Voter Authority Certificate Application Service will go live on 16 January 2023 and updates on applications will be provided in due course.
Data will be collected by Returning Officers, including on incidences of electors not providing acceptable voter identification in polling stations, to inform the Electoral Commission and DLUHC evaluations of polls in May and the two future UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The department has an extensive change network including local authorities, Valuation Joint Boards, and electoral organisations which is supporting the implementation of voter identification in May 2023 and beyond.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the website for people to apply for a free voter ID will be available to use.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is working closely with the Electoral Commission and local authorities to introduce voter identification at elections from May 2023.
The Electoral Commission is a body independent of the Government and is accountable to the UK Parliament. Funding of its duties including public awareness raising campaigns is a matter for the Speaker's Committee of the House of Commons.
The Voter Authority Certificate Application Service will go live on 16 January 2023 and updates on applications will be provided in due course.
Data will be collected by Returning Officers, including on incidences of electors not providing acceptable voter identification in polling stations, to inform the Electoral Commission and DLUHC evaluations of polls in May and the two future UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The department has an extensive change network including local authorities, Valuation Joint Boards, and electoral organisations which is supporting the implementation of voter identification in May 2023 and beyond.
Asked by: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether Freedom of Information principles require the release of the responsibilities and names of all senior civil servants.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The guidance for departments to publish their SCS transparency data remains in place, and all departments have published at least once since 1st April 2022.
Each department publishes its departmental organograms on data.gov.uk as part of the Government’s commitment to transparency. In order to do so, departments individually collect and present data including names, grades, job titles, and annual pay ranges from Permanent Secretary through to SCS2. Information for those at SCS1 is anonymised.
The decision to only publish names for SCS2 and above dates back to 2010, and was made on the grounds of proportionality and reasonable expectations of privacy. The guidance for publication of SCS transparency data was reconfirmed in 2017, and has been reviewed regularly to ensure that it is still appropriate and provides the information that the public might reasonably need.