Voter ID Pilots

Debate between Chloe Smith and Chris Ruane

Wednesday 10th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chloe Smith]

I would be delighted to see interest from Lancaster City Council in participating in the pilots. I would like to put on record again how grateful I am to all the local councils that are taking part in them. Some very hard work is being done by administrators to test this important move in our voting system. The example my hon. Friend gives reminds us that there are concerns up and down the country about how well protected our electoral system is, and it is right that we address those.

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

I have pursued the issue of electoral registration for 18 years in this place. The hundreds of questions that I have tabled show that there is no issue with voter fraud. These are tactics that are used by the right wing in America for voter suppression. May I offer an alternative use for the £20 million that has been allocated for this policy? It should be transferred into getting the missing millions who are not even on the register on to the register.

[Chloe Smith]

If this is about voter suppression, the Labour party clearly does not want any members, because it uses it for its own party membership. This is not about voter suppression, nor is it about disenfranchisement. I object strongly to the use of those words to describe what is being done. This is a reasonable step to protect voters’ choices. It is simple common sense, as the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) said, that people should be able to show who they are at the polling station.

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for his campaigning over time on these issues, because he is right to keep consistent scrutiny on how we can help as many people as possible to be registered in this country. I hope he knows that I share his determination to make our registers as complete and accurate as they can be and to have as many people taking part in our elections as possible. Recent figures suggest that we have record levels of electoral registration in this country. They fluctuate slightly throughout electoral cycles, as he will know because he looks at these things closely. The point is that we do have a thriving democracy in this country—let us keep it that way.

Voter Registration

Debate between Chloe Smith and Chris Ruane

Wednesday 22nd October 2014 Westminster Hall

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to take part in the debate under your chairmanship, Mr Williams, and to be the second speaker after the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott), who made an extensive speech. I would invite her to Norfolk, where the climate tends to be a little drier and, occasionally, warmer, although I cannot speak for that in a week where we have all been battered by somewhat higher winds than normal.

I congratulate the hon. Lady on calling this important debate. This is an urgent and important matter for us all, and particularly for me, because, until 1 pm today, I am the secretary of the all-party group on voter registration—we have our annual general meeting at 1 pm, and I fully hope to continue being the secretary or to become another officer of the group. At our meeting, we will also have a briefing from Cabinet Office officials on individual electoral registration. I can therefore reassure hon. Members that there is great interest in this important reform programme and that it is being properly scrutinised, not only in this room, but by the all-party group. It is, indeed, also being scrutinised by many others outside this place, and I could name, among many others, Bite the Ballot or the group I met last night, who are behind the Twitter handle “It’s A Power Thing”—I am sure that you tweet every day, Mr Williams, and that when you find examples of what politics really consists of, you, too, use the hashtag ThisIsPolitics. I am confident that every one of us in the Chamber shares with such groups a passion not only for getting young people to register to vote, but for making sure that anybody and everybody can use their rightful place in the franchise.

I am sure the Minister will explain everything he is doing to ensure the greatest possible accuracy and completeness in voter registration. He will not need me to reiterate the many arguments I have made on this issue, because I have been on record many times in this Parliament as a former Minister with responsibility for the registration programme.

I am pleased to see that we have colleagues from Northern Ireland with us, and I am sure they will be able to explain further some of the lessons that have rightly been learned from a similar roll-out there.

[Chris Ruane]

I pay tribute to the non-partisan work the hon. Lady does on the all-party group—she is an excellent politician. On the lessons from Northern Ireland, the registration rate there in 2011 was 71%, which was way down. There was then a complete canvass, with door knocking, and the rate went up to 88%. Door knocking is the single most important way to improve registration, but, in 2013, 23 authorities did not door-knock. What does the hon. Lady think of that?

[Chloe Smith]

I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman. He and I have tussled over this many times—again, in a non-partisan way. There is no call for this to be a party political question, but there is every call for us to ensure that local authorities have the tools to do what works, and I am sure the Minister will respond fully and properly to the suggestions that the hon. Member for Sunderland Central made.

On the subject of errant local authorities, the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) will remember that I wrote to colleagues in this place when I was a Minister, and I have done so again during my time with the all-party group, to encourage Members to hold their local authorities to account for what they and their EROs do to properly engage with those who should be registered. Members of the House have a real chance to take a proper interest in this subject—again, in a non-partisan, non-party political way—because we have every interest in ensuring that we have an accurate and complete register and, indeed, that all the tools of the trade are being used to back up the state of our politics. It will not be a matter of debate among us that politics has a bad name and continues to be the subject of declining interest among voters. That is not acceptable to any of us, and all of us, in our different ways, take a passionate interest in the issue.

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[Chris Ruane]

We did not do our job and I admit that. However, we had a plan from 2010 to 2015 to remedy that and to put the missing millions on the register in time for IER to be introduced in 2015. That plan was wrecked for party political advantage by the Conservative wing of the coalition Government.

The Electoral Commission has let us down in other ways. In the dry run for IER, the Department for Work and Pensions cross-referenced national databases with the electoral register. There was a match rate of about 82%, which it then sent to 383 local EROs. It asked them or said that if they wanted they could do local government data matching to get them from 82% to 92%. Of the 383, only 137 informed the Electoral Commission that it had done that. There may have been others, but they could not be bothered to tell the commission. It should have been firm and told those authorities that they had to take part in the dry run to iron out any difficulties ready for the live run. It did not do that.

The Electoral Commission’s plan for 2014 to 2019 covers what it hopes to achieve over the next five years. It recognised in 2014 that 7.5 million people were missing from the register in 2010. What is its aim for putting those people on the register over the next five years? The answer is zero. It has said that its aim for April 2011 was for the register to be 85.5% complete; for April 2019, the aim is that that completeness does not deteriorate. So 7.5 million names are missing now and there will be 7.5 million missing in 2019. That reminds me of a report once sent to my mum stating, “Christopher has set himself very low standards and failed to achieve them.” The Electoral Commission has failed. It set itself low standards and will fail to achieve them. It has been remiss.

When the Electoral Commission found out that the number of people missing from the register in 2010 was not 6 million but 7.5 million—that has flatlined; it is the same now—it welcomed that. It welcomed the fact that there had been no improvement in the registration rate. It had flatlined and had not increased, and the commission thought that was an achievement. It has set itself low standards. It is not only happy that 7.5 million people will be kept off the register for the next five years, but it has introduced restrictions on the handling of postal votes. It says that political parties cannot be trusted to go out and ask people whether they want a postal vote and to send it off when it has been filled in. It refers to electoral postal vote fraud, but there has been only one case of that in 10 years.

The Electoral Commission is not happy with just doing that. It is proposing that when people go to the polling station in 2019, they will have to show photo ID. That has been done in America, in right-wing Republican states—there is a perfect mirroring between Republican and Democrat states in America in terms of those that have and have not introduced photo ID. The independent Electoral Commission in this country is proposing that we copy those Republican states. It is an outrage. There has been one successful prosecution for electoral registration fraud in 10 years.

There are big issues out there. The prediction, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central outlined, is that there will be an additional 5.5 million people missing off the register as a result of IER. The hon. Member for Norwich North is right that they will be protected for the general election. There will be a carry-over from household registration to individual registration, and we thank the Government for that—I think they were forced into it by the Lib Dems and others—but the next big date is the freeze date for the Boundary Commission, for the next boundary review, which is December 1 2015. If there is no carry-over for those 5.5 million people and for the 7 million people already off the register, 13 million or perhaps 14 million people will drop off it before the boundary review freeze date of 1 December 2015.

[Chloe Smith]

I want to draw the hon. Gentleman back a little. He is correct about the December 2015 date, but does he think that those voters then go to a Siberia of democracy? Does he not think that they still have the right to register if they wish to?

[Chris Ruane]

Absolutely, and those black voters in the southern states of America had the right to go and register but they did not. We know that people have not registered and that more will fall off, and we know that we can take steps to encourage more to fall off or to stop people from falling off. I think the coalition Government are quite happy with the situation. I think it is deliberate, given the time scale, the bringing things forward by one year and the lifestyle choice that they considered. It all points in the same direction: that they wanted maximum political benefit from the constitutional changes that they were introducing.

I shall finish my speech as I started it. If we have 11 million people not voting and 7.5 million people—perhaps 14 million people—not on the register, we will not be serving democracy in the mother of Parliaments.

Electoral Registration and Administration Bill

Debate between Chloe Smith and Chris Ruane

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Ruane]

I agree with my hon. Friend and think that the census should be the basis for any future redrawing of boundaries.

In conclusion, the reason given by the Conservative party for wanting to introduce the boundary review changes is to decrease the number of MPs from 650 to 600. It says that it is a case of cost and that that is its primary reason, and yet when I tried to table a parliamentary question in the Table Office to find out the cost of an MP and the cost of a Lord, I was told that I was not allowed to do so. Fortunately a Lord in the other place tabled the question and received the response that it costs £130,000 per Lord and £590,000 per MP. The Government have created an extra 125 Lords since they came to power in 2010 and they propose to create another 50 over the next few weeks. Where is the logic in creating an extra 175 unelected Lords while reducing the House of Commons from 650 to 600 Members?

[Miss Chloe Smith]

I beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon for interrupting him when he was about to conclude. Given that he is in favour of having such hard casework, is he proud of the fact that his electorate is about two thirds the size of mine?

[Chris Ruane]

My electorate was even smaller than that of the hon. Lady’s constituency 10 years ago. The voter population in my constituency went down to as low as 47,000. It was only when I started to put pressure on, and following the professionalisation of the electoral registration officer in Denbighshire county council, that the number went from 47,000 to 57,000. I believe that there are even more unregistered people in the constituency.

The vast majority of the 6.5 million missing voters are in Labour constituencies. This is therefore a political act, and one that has come unstuck.

Electoral Registration

Debate between Chloe Smith and Chris Ruane

Tuesday 15th January 2013 Westminster Hall

[Miss Smith]

In some ways, the hon. Lady is right. The electoral register, by its nature, is a repository of solid information, but it is important that we put to work other data sets held by different levels of government to maximise numbers. We all want the numbers to be maximised, and we must find the best ways to do so. We are carrying out various schemes to test the usefulness of matching electoral registers against several public authority data sets. A further set of pilots will commence shortly, some of which will address students and recent home moves.

[Chris Ruane]

Will the Minister explain why the date for introducing IER, which was agreed with all-party consensus under the previous Labour Government, was moved forward one year from 2015 to 2014? Why was that consensus broken?

--- Later in debate ---

[Miss Smith]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, in general terms, for his flashes of bipartisanship both in this debate and, occasionally, in the main Chamber, but I regret that some of his, dare I say, time-filling appeared to descend into slightly more partisan commentary. I will be similarly partisan in response: the version introduced by Labour cost more than our version to the tune of some £100 million, and I think it is worth comparing schemes on that basis. The previous scheme would have caused confusion because, effectively, it sought to run a voluntary version of individual registration alongside another process. I believe that the version before us is somewhat cleaner.

[Chris Ruane]

I thank the Minister for giving way a second time. Why, specifically, was the date moved from 2015 to 2014? Was it to gain party political advantage for the general election and because the Government foresaw the deadline for the next review of parliamentary boundaries in December 2015?

[Miss Smith]

In short, no.

Other hon. Members have asked various questions about data matching, which I must address so that I answer everyone in time. In particular, the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent asked about the use of credit reference agencies, which is a point that he has raised capably many times. We considered the possibility of a pilot using credit reference agency data, but I am advised that running such a scheme within the existing legislation would be difficult. As I said in my answer to the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh), I am interested in finding as many useful sources of data as possible, and I shall continue to look for them. I have no doubt that the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and I will continue that debate as we continue our research, but I am aware of a number of shortcomings in using data from credit reference agencies.

There will be a move to digital applications from the current paper application form, which will make registration more convenient for a number of people. The move will increase accessibility for many people with disabilities. I will be talking to the Electoral Commission later this week, and I am happy to raise the points raised by the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden on the accessibility of the forms. We will be actively encouraging applicants to use the online system, which we intend to be the primary channel for applications. It is important, however, that we retain the option of a paper form to cater for anyone who is not ready for the move.

I acknowledge the hon. Lady’s point on absent voters. She generously explained how important that group is in her constituency, and often, those in that group are older voters, whom we will consider carefully. I certainly would not wish to see any such group disadvantaged, and I will watch that carefully.

--- Later in debate ---

[Miss Smith]

It is important that I go on to Northern Ireland before we run out of time. We are absolutely clear that we will be learning and have learned the lessons from Northern Ireland, and we have looked carefully into the Electoral Commission’s report. We are taking steps to prevent a fall in registration levels upon the introduction of individual electoral registration by retaining the annual canvass—as I said, we have no plans to abolish it in Great Britain—by moving the 2013 canvass to early 2014 to allow a more accurate and up-to-date register to be used at the beginning of the transition to IER, and testing and evaluating the benefits of data matching, about which I spoke briefly, by confirming eligible electors through the data match process. That confirmation will give us a substantial baseline level of completeness throughout the transition to individual registration. All those things are vital. We have always recognised that the transition to individual registration poses a risk to completeness rates, so we are putting in place those safeguards.

[Chris Ruane]

Registration rates in Northern Ireland are down to 71% and could go lower. At what percentage—60% or 55%, for example—does the Minister believe that we will stop having a properly functioning democracy?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chloe Smith and Chris Ruane

Tuesday 20th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

4. What his policy is on individual electoral registration; and if he will make a statement.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Miss Chloe Smith)]

The Government are fully committed to delivering individual electoral registration. In the coalition agreement we promised to speed up its implementation to improve the integrity of the electoral register, and that remains the Government’s policy.

[Miss Smith]

It has not disappeared, but, as you know, Mr. Speaker, by convention we in this House do not comment on the workings of the other place.

[Chris Ruane]

Before I ask my question, may I just say that Labour did not do enough to increase electoral registration during our 13 years in power?

May I ask the Minister, in the spirit of cross-party co-operation, what we can do together—as Members of Parliament, as political parties and as democrats—to put the 6 million unregistered voters on to the register and to improve democracy?

[Miss Smith]

I truly welcome what the hon. Gentleman has said. I think it is of concern to everyone in the House that, for example, 36% of people—according to a recent Electoral Commission survey—believe that electoral fraud is a problem. We are introducing safeguards to ensure that the maximum number of people can be individually registered. That includes the use of techniques such as data-matching, phasing in the transition over two years, a write-out to all electors in 2014, and a programme of work to maximise registration among previously under-represented groups.

Rural Bank Closures

Debate between Chloe Smith and Chris Ruane

Tuesday 21st February 2012 Westminster Hall

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Miss Chloe Smith)]

I hope you will excuse my slightly unorthodox speaking style, Mr Brady, due to a broken foot. I thank the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams) and his colleagues, who are now giggling in the back row. I also thank the other Members who have contributed to this important debate. It follows the interesting and useful debate secured last year by the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, to which my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary responded. He is in Committee today, considering the Financial Services Bill. I am sure that he will read today’s Hansard with deep interest and mull over the calls for a summit and the suggestions about with whom he should work if he is minded to hold one. I recognise the concerns expressed capably by all hon. Members about the impact of past and planned branch closures by high street banks in their constituencies and about the availability of banking services in rural areas more generally.

[Chris Ruane]

On the issue of a banking summit, will the Minister consider calling it herself, in co-operation with the shadow Minister, or is it something that she will leave to Back Benchers?

[Miss Smith]

The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that I shall have to leave that to the consideration of my colleague at the Treasury, whose portfolio it more properly is. However, as I said, I am sure that during a slow moment in Committee upstairs, he will read today’s Hansard and take the hon. Gentleman’s views deeply into account.

The Government recognise that people in rural areas experience much the same financial challenges as people living in towns and cities, even Harrow. However, living in a rural area can bring additional challenges apart from the obvious examples of bank closures. Exclusion from financial services can be less visible in rural areas than in urban areas. My hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) and others have highlighted a range of rural challenges. I have some understanding of them myself, having grown up in the fens in rural Norfolk. My first bank account was in a branch in a market town.

With regard to access to bank accounts, the Government are committed to improving access to financial services, as I shall explain, and in particular to bank accounts. It has been amply demonstrated that having a bank account is an essential aspect of modern life and that being able to access counter services at a branch while interacting face to face with staff is a service valued not only by individuals but by businesses. I have also heard the points made today about its tourism value. However, I must point out that decisions whether and where to maintain specific branches are commercial decisions and, as such, for the financial institutions in question. The Government do not intervene in such decisions, as a matter of principle.

All banking service providers must balance customer interests, market competition and other commercial factors when considering their strategy. I note the call by the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) for banks to balance social responsibility with those factors, but I will say at the outset that the Government have been clear about the need for a change in bonus culture and for banks to contribute to the real economy, support small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the UK and lend to families. The bottom line of today’s debate is that banks have customers, and it is clear that they must treat them fairly in taking decisions about them.

With that in mind, I will set out briefly the regulations that apply. Banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is currently governed by the Financial Services Authority in its “Banking Conduct of Business Sourcebook”, which includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all their customers. The guidance agreed by the industry and the FSA sets out expectations of how banks should live up to that code of conduct and specific guidelines for how banks should behave when considering closing a branch.

The guidance states that if a firm plans to close or move a branch, customers should be notified at least 12 weeks beforehand and told how the firm will continue to provide retail banking services. That includes providing micro-enterprise customers with information on any existing inter-bank agency agreements. A notice should be placed in the branch, and consideration should be given to other local advertising and notification of local councils and community groups. The bank should provide information on alternative facilities offered by the firm in the locality, including its nearest alternative branch and nearest free ATM, as well as other channels through which banking services are provided.

My hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart) mentioned free ATMs. I believe that the LINK network, of which, I note, he is perhaps no great fan, runs a phone line that customers can use to propose sites for new free-of-charge cash machines. Perhaps he might encourage his constituents to take that up.

The guidance also requires that customers be notified at least 12 weeks in advance of significant alterations to counter services or opening hours. On the back of those points, first, such arrangements clearly help customers make alternative arrangements to meet their banking needs. Secondly, they enable options to be considered, such as the action plans for which the right hon. Member for Torfaen (Paul Murphy) called. Thirdly, to use an example that we heard today, I am pleased that people in Suffolk, Coastal could respond in that way. When people see a notice in branch buildings, some are clearly able to respond. Fourthly, however, that does not change the end fact that a branch may still be withdrawn.

Let us move on and note what banks offer in addition to their face-to-face services. Several Members have made the point today that banks offer services by telephone and by internet. My hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire raised the significant issue of broadband, which I am sure is on everyone’s minds. The Government have laid out significant plans to improve and complete broadband for rural areas. I could go into that more, but I suspect that that is a different debate and that you, Mr Brady, will not allow me to speak on it. I reassure Members that the Government understand that point and are acting on it.

It is fair to say that the channels I have talked about are not always appropriate for every customer and every service. As hon. Members have noted, having access to a branch with face-to-face services is particularly important for older people and for small businesses that may require cash facilities to trade. However, the fact is that phone and online channels are increasingly popular, and the provision of such services is expanding and diversifying rapidly, giving customers a range of choices as to how they manage their affairs.

It is important to note that many bank account providers have an arrangement for customers to access their accounts via post office counters, which I am glad that hon. Members have noted throughout today’s debate. I know that Members will welcome the Government’s stance on post offices, notably making clear commitments regarding the future of the network—that there will be no further closure programmes and that we will maintain a network of at least 11,500 branches and ensure that specific access provisions for rural areas are included. I understand that 80% of customers now have the possibility of withdrawing or depositing funds or checking their balance at a post office branch.

Hon. Members raised shared branching, which is where several banking providers pool their services in some way. That is an interesting idea that clearly requires a high degree of commercial collaboration. I return to my point that the best people to judge that are the banks themselves, and I would certainly encourage them to consider that idea and also mobile banking, which was also raised in today’s debate.