Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with local councils to ensure that information on the requirements for voter ID is (a) accessible for people with disabilities and (b) available in Easy Read format.

I refer the Hon. Member to the response given to the Urgent Question on 21 February 2023 (Official Report, HC, Volume 728, Column 138), to Question UIN 165271 on 20 March 2023 and Question UIN 171447 on 31 March 2023.

The Government published an Equality Impact Assessment of the Elections Act. This included consideration of the impact on people with protected characteristics.

The Electoral Commission is responsible for the communications campaign to help voters understand the new requirement to present identification to vote. This has included work with civil society groups and other stakeholders, including organisations that represent disabled people.

As is already publicly available, an easy read version of the application form for the Voter Authority Certificate is on gov.uk and from the Electoral Commission and easy read instructions are available to support people to apply online. The Government has also legislated to require that accessible information be sent with the Voter Authority Certificate to electors that request it, including in easy read.