Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has plans to give prisoners in England the right to vote.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is the Government’s long-established position that when someone commits a crime, which is sufficiently serious to receive a prison sentence, they are deemed to have broken their contract with society to such an extent that they should not have the right to vote until they are ready to be back in the community.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to increase voter registration among homeless people.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is committed to ensuring our democracy is robust, trusted and open so all those who are eligible can participate with confidence. We have convened partners in local authorities and homeless charities to codesign and test ideas to address barriers to electoral registration for the homeless. These will be made available shortly on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the public sector has the required IT infrastructure in place to enable a paperless society.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government Digital Service works with departments across central government to build digital capability, develop and implement common tools and standards, and ensure government remains focused on the needs of end users when designing digital services.
The Local Digital Declaration is a set of principles and commitments by which central and local government will work together to share tools and best practice in order to help get more public services online.
Over 16 million customers now access their Personal Tax Account online; over 90% of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Association’s (DVLA) transactions (over 1 billion in 2017/18) are now completed online; and over 5.7 million people have used the voter registration digital service.