Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to accelerate the existing work to (a) proactively identify and (b) make available voting solutions for (i) blind and (ii) partially sighted people.

The Elections Act 2022 sets out requirements for the Returning Officers who run elections to consider and provide support for electors with all forms of disability, including those with varying degrees of sight loss. The Tactile Voting Device designed to assist voters with sight loss has been in use since 2001, which the Government understands has worked well for some, and a variety of options including use of magnifiers, digital reading applications and audio are used by electors with differing preferences. We are working with the members of the Accessibility of Elections Working Group, drawn from organisations supporting and representing disabled people – including RNIB and others such as Mencap – alongside electoral administrators and the Electoral Commission, which provides statutory guidance on this matter, to identify and promote further options for disabled voters. We will continue to consider developments internationally and work closely with these organisations and the elections sector to support Returning Officers to provide solutions for all disabled electors, including those with sight loss, to take part in the democratic process.