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780381

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2017 to Question 9559, on electronic voting, whether he plans to trial postal votes only for parish or town council elections.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	110447
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2017 answer text <p>The Government has no intention of mandating postal votes for local and parish council elections. It is the Government’s position that electors should have the choice between voting in person, by proxy or through a postal vote.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Furthermore, mandating postal voting in any poll would require all electors to provide ‘postal vote identifiers’ (e.g. signature and date of birth as are used now) to support voters securely casting a postal ballot. The Government is concerned that this would suppress turnout, and that mandating postal voting for a particular type of poll would ultimately prejudice some electors by making it harder for them to vote.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 30/11/2017 11:18:10 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

788382

	registered interest
	date	13/11/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the handling of postal ballots by campaigners for political parties.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	112480
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2017 answer text <p><strong> </strong></p><p>The review by Sir Eric Pickles into electoral fraud considered postal voting and identified a number of areas in which the existing rules around postal voting at elections could be tightened.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Following this, the Government will look for opportunities to introduce measures that will prohibit party campaigners from handling postal votes, and apply a limit to the number of postal ballots that any one individual can hand in at a polling station. Our intention would be for the provisions to be backed up by a new offence, and will make a significant contribution to enhancing the security of postal voting.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 16/11/2017 16:05:44 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

773077

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many voters in the (a) 2016 EU referendum and (b) 2017 UK General Election voted (i) at a polling station, (ii) by post and (iii) by proxy.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
	tabling member printed	Darren Jones
	uin	108582
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2017 answer text <p>The Electoral Commission publishes data on voting at elections and referendums on its website. The information can be found at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our work/our-research/electoral- data/electoral-data- new</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 24/10/2017 16:00:47 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

760801

	registered interest
	date	14/09/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will assess the merits of introducing a process to cancel a postal ballot paper issued to an elector who is subsequently deleted from the electoral register during an election period.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	105247
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2017 answer text <p>Electoral law is clear that a person must be included in the register of electors for a<br>poll in order to be entitled to vote at that poll. The Government recognises that it is<br>possible for postal ballot papers to be issued to a postal voter who may subsequently<br>be removed from the register to be used at the poll. We will look to review the current<br>provisions on the cancellation of postal ballot papers to see whether improvements<br>can be made to the law in this area.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 19/10/2017 11:00:01 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

759613

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an attestation arrangement for postal vote applications requiring a signature waiver.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	10236
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2017 answer text <p>Sir Eric Pickles’ review of Electoral Fraud, published in August 2016, recommended<br>introducing an attestation requirement for postal vote applications requiring a signature<br>waiver</p><p>The Government supports this recommendation and will be seeking to consider, in<br>conjunction with the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Electoral Commission,<br>how this might be implemented in due course.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 18/10/2017 14:52:30 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

758612

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward proposals to allow people to register for a postal vote online.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	9560
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2017 answer text <p>The Government has made a manifesto commitment to reform the postal vote system, as part of continued work to ensure that our electoral systems are the most secure in the world. Any decision of allowing applications to be made online will be part of that consideration.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 15/09/2017 13:54:04 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

731782

	registered interest
	date	22/06/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting: British Nationals Abroad
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will provide funding to local authorities to use rapid international postal services to send postal ballot packs to overseas electors, in particular where an election occurs unexpectedly.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	685
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/06/2017 answer text <p>The Government has no plans to establish polling stations in other countries in the foreseeable future. However, the Government previously took action to make postal voting a more feasible option for overseas voters by lengthening the electoral timetable and removing the restriction on issuing postal votes ahead of the postal vote application deadline. Overseas voters can also appoint a proxy voter in the United Kingdom on their behalf. Introducing the use of embassies or consulates as polling stations would raise logistical and security issues in delivering, returning and counting ballot papers from embassies.</p><p><strong><br></strong>Rapid international postal services are not used to send postal ballot packs to overseas electors in order to keep the cost to the public purse reasonable when administering national elections. We will assess the balance between cost-effectiveness, and the importance of ensuring that overseas voters are able to engage in the democratic process, further in advance of future elections.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 579 question first answered 29/06/2017 15:56:42 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

731901

	registered interest
	date	22/06/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many prosecutions there have been for electoral fraud relating to postal votes in each of the last five years; and to which parliamentary constituencies such prosecutions related.
	tabling member constituency	Bassetlaw
	tabling member printed	John Mann
	uin	655
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2017 answer text <p>This Government is committed to creating a secure and clear democracy that works for all. We published our response to the Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles’ report on electoral fraud in December 2016 setting out the Government’s approach to tackling the recommendations Sir Eric made.</p><p>The Electoral Commission publishes annual analysis of electoral fraud on their website. (http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/electoral-fraud/data-and-analysis?)</p><p>Further information on electoral fraud is available in the reports.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 27/06/2017 12:35:00 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	1387 label Biography information for Lord Mann

686050

	registered interest
	date	07/02/2017
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Absent Voting: Reform
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to reform postal voting to protect against voter fraud.
	tabling member constituency	Wellingborough
	tabling member printed	Mr Peter Bone
	uin	63547
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/02/2017 answer text <p>The Government believes that electoral fraud is unacceptable on any level. The Government’s response to Sir Eric Pickles’ review, <em>Securing the ballot</em>, sets out a comprehensive programme of reform for strengthening our electoral system. Sir Eric’s review identified a number of areas where the system could be tightened, and the Government’s response sets out a number of measures for tackling postal voting fraud.</p><p>For example, the Government intends to seek legislative opportunities to extend the provisions on ballot secrecy, and the offences already in place for voting in person, to postal voting. We will also carefully consider the practical implications of introducing a ban on the handling of postal ballot papers by campaigners. These and other measures outlined in the Government’s response are an important part of ensuring that we can build a democracy that works for everyone.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 20/02/2017 10:41:59 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	1581 label Biography information for Mr Peter Bone

1172097

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academic Freedom
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to take steps in response to proposals by Sheffield university to pay some students to monitor and report on statements made by other students which might be regarded as micro-aggressions; what progress he has made on bringing forward proposals to safeguard free speech in colleges and universities; and if he will draw the lessons of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to the attention of college and university staff during this 70th anniversary year of the author’s death.
	tabling member constituency	New Forest East
	tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
	uin	5319
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2020 answer text <p>This government will ensure that our universities are places where free speech can thrive and work to strengthen academic freedoms. The freedom to express views openly, challenge ideas and engage in robust debate is crucial to the student experience and to democracy. Lawful freedom of speech and the right to discuss all kinds of issues is an integral part of our higher education system.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Education (No 2) Act (1986), higher education providers have a specific duty to take reasonably practicable steps to secure freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers. Higher education providers also have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010).</p><p> </p><p>Higher education providers should discharge their responsibilities fully and have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law and to investigate and address incidents reported to them. Universities, as autonomous bodies regulated by the Office for Students, should ensure that they are balancing their legal duties carefully and proportionately.</p><p> </p><p>The government worked with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who published clear guidance in February 2019 on freedom of speech in higher education to support higher education providers and students’ unions in delivering their duties.</p><p> </p><p>The government will be looking closely at how well higher education providers are meeting their obligations and will consider whether further action is needed, working with a range of partners.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 29/01/2020 17:37:56 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis