Question

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, on what date the discussions between the Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office on sanctions against electoral registration officers (EROs) who refuse to conduct door-to-door canvassing as per Standard Three began; when those discussions will conclude; whether the conclusions of those discussions will be made available to (a) hon. Members with EROs who failed Standard Three, (b) the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee and (c) councillors within failed local authorities; and if he will place in the Library the conclusions of those discussions.

The Commission informs me that it has reported on ERO performance against Standard 3 for each year since 2008.

To support EROs in preparing for and delivering the transition to individual electoral registration (IER) the Commission has developed a new performance standards framework, which it will use to monitor the performance of EROs against throughout the transition to individual electoral registration. The Commission will continue to carefully monitor and work closely with EROs and will consider a range of options to ensure EROs are carrying out their duties in full.

Discussions between the Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office take place regularly on a range of subjects.

The Commission made clear in its June report that it would use its statutory powers to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to require specific EROs to do door-to-door canvassing if this didn't happen during the introduction of IER, which began on 10 June in England and Wales.

No specific date for conclusion has been set as it will depend on the circumstances in each area, but the Commission will continue to keep this under active review. Should the Commission make a recommendation for such a direction, it will write to the relevant honourable members and local council leaders. We will also write to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee and ask for this correspondence to be placed in the House Library.