Electoral Commission Report on May 2016 Polls: Government Response

Chris Skidmore Excerpts

Monday 17th July 2017 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chris Skidmore)]

The Government are today publishing their responses to the Electoral Commission’s reports on the administration of the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections for 2016.

We have combined our response to the report on the London elections with the recommendations made in the reports of the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) where they are relevant to those polls.

Similarly, our response to the report on the PCC elections also incorporates relevant recommendations by the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the AEA. In addition, we have provided an annex of responses to additional AEA recommendations from their 2016 report that are not relevant to these polls.

Where recommendations by the Electoral Commission in its two reports are identical, they have been addressed in our response to the PCC election.

We are grateful for the recommendations produced by all these organisations and thank them for their work. These reports aid the Government in monitoring the effectiveness of electoral legislation; and help us to make improvements and identify future policy challenges and possible resolutions.

The Government will continue to work with these organisations, as well as electoral administrators and other partners, to improve our electoral system and ensure the effective running of elections. We will take these recommendations into account in implementing the recommendations of Sir Eric Pickles’ review of electoral fraud published last year.

Copies of these Government responses will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS50]