Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential devolution of powers relating to electoral matters in Northern Ireland.

I wrote on 21 March to the Minister of the Environment, Mark Durkan MLA, to advise him of preliminary work to consider greater Local Council involvement in aspects of the delivery of elections in Northern Ireland.

Electoral policy remains an excepted matter in Northern Ireland. While we are considering options for reforming the administration of elections in Northern Ireland, the question of devolving electoral policy does not form part of this review.