Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of removing the 15-year time limit on the right of British citizens living overseas to vote in UK parliamentary elections.

British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom. Their stake in our country must be respected and this Government will not deny them the opportunity to have their say in the way their country is governed. The Government is committed to introducing “votes for life”, scrapping the rule that bars British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting.

Glyn Davies’ Private Member’s Bill on Overseas Electors successfully passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 23 February 2018. A detailed Impact Assessment considering costing for the Overseas Electors Bill has now been published.