Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether an impact assessment was undertaken on the potential effect of voter ID requirements on minority and ethnic communities.
Answered by Chloe Smith
This Government takes its Public Sector Equality Duty extremely seriously. In addition to the pilots, we have consulted, and will continue to consult with a broad range of charities and civil society organisations, to make sure that voter ID will work for everybody.
Based on the evaluations of the independent Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office there is no indication that the ID requirement negatively affected the intention to vote for any consistent specific demographic group across the pilot authorities.
Showing ID is something people of all backgrounds already do every day, for example to take out a library book, claim benefits or pick up a parcel from the post office. Proving who you are before you make a decision of huge importance at the ballot box should be no different. As was the case during the pilots, any voter who does not have an approved form of ID will be able to apply, free of charge, for a local electoral ID from their local authority.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what support he provided to local authority electoral registration officers to ensure that EU citizens had sufficient time to return their declaration forms to vote in the 2019 European elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government took all the legal steps necessary to prepare for the European Parliament elections and put in place all the legislative and funding elements to enable Returning Officers to make their preparations required for the polls on 23 May. We also worked with Returning Officers and the Electoral Commission and other agencies such as the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) to support the smooth running of the polls.
On 5 April the Electoral Commission published guidance for Local Returning Officers and EROs on the upcoming European Parliament elections. In this the Electoral Commission reminded EROs to prepare and issue UC1 forms to EU citizens on the electoral register. It also encouraged EROs to agree plans and timings for postal vote despatch (including how to prioritise the despatch of overseas votes). This latter point covers UK citizens living in EU countries.
On 3 May the Electoral Commission published guidance advising EU citizens to avoid registering to vote using unofficial registration sites. In this guidance, they further stated that “any EU citizen who wants to vote in the European Parliamentary election in the UK must also print, complete and return a declaration form stating that they will only vote in the UK.” This guidance also included a link to the Your Vote Matters website where the form could be downloaded.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason his Department decided not to extend the deadline for EU citizens to return their voter registration and declaration forms for the 2019 European Parliament elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest date in which an EU citizen can submit a European Parliament Voter Registration Form (known as a UC1 form) to register as an elector in the European Parliamentary elections is 12 working days before the date of the election. For the recent European Parliamentary elections that deadline was 7th May. The 12 working day deadline is based on two provisions relating to the application process and the publication of, and alterations to, the register before the election. The provisions are contained in section 13B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and regulation 29 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001; and the equivalent provisions in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008 as applied by Schedule 001 of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001. To change the 12 working day deadline would require changes to the legislation.
The UC1 form implements a requirement under EU law. EU Council Directive 93/109/EC requires all Member States to send the details of any EU citizens’ declarations to the state they are a citizen of “sufficiently in advance of polling day” to ensure an EU citizen does not vote twice in the same European Parliamentary election. This is not a new requirement and has been in place for previous European Parliamentary elections.
On 5 April the Electoral Commission published guidance for Local Returning Officers and EROs on the upcoming European Parliament elections. In this the Electoral Commission reminded EROs to prepare and issue UC1 forms to EU citizens on the electoral register. It also encouraged EROs to agree plans and timings for postal vote despatch (including how to prioritise the despatch of overseas votes). This latter point covers UK citizens living in EU countries.
On 3 May the Electoral Commission published guidance advising EU citizens to avoid registering to vote using unofficial registration sites. In this guidance, they further stated that “any EU citizen who wants to vote in the European Parliamentary election in the UK must also print, complete and return a declaration form stating that they will only vote in the UK.” This guidance also included a link to the Your Vote Matters website where the form could be downloaded.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons EU citizens were not issued with an EU election voter registration and declaration form when they voted in local elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is for individual Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to decide how to fulfil their statutory duty to encourage participation by electors in the electoral process in the area in which they act and take the necessary steps to do so.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2019 to Question 260725 on European Parliament: Elections, which local authorities and electoral administrators he or his ministers have met with since the 2019 EU parliamentary elections; and whether the matter of EU citizens being prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections was discussed at any of those meetings.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ministers and officials meet frequently with local authorities and electoral administrators to discuss
a wide range of electoral issues
Details of external meetings by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are published quarterly and
are available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with representatives of local authorities on EU citizens that were prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections.
Answered by Kevin Foster
My officials and I meet regularly with representatives of local authorities and electoral administrators to discuss a wide range of electoral issues.
In line with their statutory duty, the Electoral Commission will be publishing a report into the administration of the polls later this year.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 128781, if he will set out the external stakeholders who were consulted on embedding diversity and inclusion in civil service work force plans and diversity and inclusion strategy.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Civil Service Workforce Plan set out our ambition to becoming the most inclusive employer in the UK. In October 2017 The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy set out our plan to achieve this.
In developing the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy officials engaged with a number of external groups. This included working with the Civil Service Diversity Expert Advisers, a range of expert organisations and employers networks where we tested and consulted on specific aspects of our strategy.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service Workforce Plan 2016-2020 how many meetings the diversity champion held with race equality groups in on the setting of key targets for inclusivity on grounds of race.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Since publication of the Civil Service Workforce Plan 2016-2020 the Civil Service Permanent Secretary Race Champion, Richard Heaton, has met regularly with internal race equality groups including staff networks and departmental race champions. He has also met or spoken with external race equality experts, including the Civil Service Diversity Advisor Karen Blackett and external search consultants to discuss the priority areas for the Civil Service. The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy was published in October 2017 which sets out our plans to continue to increase the representation of ethnic minority staff at all levels across the Civil Service.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to answer Question 127351, Question 127353, and Question 127354, tabled on 7 February 2018 by the hon. Member for Manchester Gorton.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers to PQ127351 and PQ127354 given on 14th March 2018 and the answer to PQ127353 given on 21st March.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the workforce plan 2016-2020 for improving the diversity and inclusiveness of the Civil Service, whether any meetings were held by the Diversity Champion with external groups when setting key targets for her work.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Civil Service Workforce Plan is our strategy for readying the workforce to respond to the challenges and the opportunities of today, and in the years to come. As part of this, five key strands of activity were identified, including becoming the most inclusive employer in the UK. The Civil Service is committed to being a role model for other UK employers and to continue to be a great place to work.
The Permanent Secretary Diversity Champions, which includes Sue Owen as lead Champion for Diversity & Inclusion, engaged with a number of external groups on the contents of the workforce plan. These included engagement with Civil Service Diversity Expert Advisors and other external stakeholders on embedding diversity and inclusion within our Civil Service workforce plans and the development of the Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Strategy.