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915143

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	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, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 17 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government 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 as a matter of urgency.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148935
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>Electoral law is clear that a person must be included in the register of electors for a poll in order to be entitled to vote at that poll. The Government recognises that it is possible for postal ballot papers to be issued to a postal voter who may subsequently be removed from the register to be used at the poll. The Electoral Commission has issued guidance explaining that postal ballot papers returned under these circumstances cannot be counted. We will look to review the current provisions on the cancellation of postal ballot papers to see whether improvements can be made to the law in this area.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:04:26 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915144

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	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, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 18 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government undertaking a review a full and thorough review of absent voting arrangements.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148936
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>We consider elections processes and policy on an ongoing basis, and are working with the electoral stakeholders to consider the development and improvement of existing processes, including in relation to the procedures for absent voting arrangements.</p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:08:37 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915139

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Ballot Papers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 8 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government removing the absolute requirement to count unused ballot papers as part of the verification process and to replace it with a requirement to do so only where the Returning Officer considers it appropriate.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148931
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>We consider elections processes and policy on an ongoing basis, and we work with the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Electoral Commission to consider the development and improvement of existing processes, including in relation to the procedures for the counting of votes at elections.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:12:07 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

905448

	registered interest
	date	16/05/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Cabinet Office: Domestic Visits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which visits have been made by officials of the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office Communications to (a) Wales and (b) the rest of the UK since the 2017 General Election; and what was the purpose of each visit.
	tabling member constituency	Wrexham
	tabling member printed	Ian C. Lucas
	uin	144858
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>The requested information is not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs to determine. Officials visit all parts of the UK regularly, they have met with many individuals and organisations on a wide range of subjects and will continue to do so.</p><p> </p><p>For example, the Cabinet Office Communications department is running seven Civil Service Live events for 18,000 civil servants across the UK. Civil Service Live will take place at the following locations this summer: Glasgow 7 June, Birmingham 13 June, Blackpool 27 June, Cardiff 5 July, Newcastle 12 July and London 17/18 July.</p><p> </p><p>The UK Governement has more than 300,000 civil servants who, rather than visiting the rest of the UK, are based outside of London in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:46:19 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	1470 label Biography information for Ian C. Lucas

915146

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Candidates
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 21 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government permitting the use of any part of a candidate’s forename and/or middle names as a commonly used name.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148938
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>The Government is aware of the issue around the use of commonly used names on the ballot paper. We will keep this matter under review.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:15:47 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915148

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Candidates
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 25 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government reviewing nomination arrangements for all elections specifically in respect of the requirement for subscribers and deposits.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148940
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>On the issue of subscribers, we note that this provision is there to ensure that any candidate can be shown to have a level of support within the electoral area. To remove this requirement could mean that people stand who are not serious candidates which would increase the costs of running polls.</p><p>On the issue of deposits, the Government does not currently have any plans to amend the requirement for candidates at certain elections to pay a deposit in order to stand. Along with the requirement for subscribers, this provision is in place in order to deter candidates who are not serious about standing for election; it is not intended to restrict participation in the democratic process. The amount required as a deposit varies depending on the specific election (for UK general elections it is £500 – a figure unchanged since 1985); it needs to be set at a level which strikes an appropriate balance between encouraging participation and preventing frivolous candidates from standing. This is particularly important when considering that candidates’ election addresses are delivered at taxpayer’s expense.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:29:17 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915134

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Elections
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 4 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government undertaking a full and thorough review of all election and electoral registration deadlines as a matter of urgency which includes those deadlines that apply to the registration of electors, overseas electors and absent voting.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148927
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>The Government has no current plans to change these deadlines.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:02:19 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915137

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Elections
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 6 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government undertaking a full review of the combination of polls which considers (a) which polls should be automatically combined, (b) what the maximum number of polls to be combined on the same day should be and (c) the combination of polls for parish and community councils and neighbourhood planning and council tax referendums with UK Parliamentary general elections.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148929
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>Combining polls can bring benefits in terms of enhancing voter participation and reducing cost. However, it is recognised that changing the rules surrounding the combination of polls would be a complex exercise. We will continue to consider this matter with stakeholders to see where improvements can be made.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:19:40 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915151

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Elections: Complaints
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 28 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government designing and introducing a formal complaints system as outlined by the Law Commissions that provides for a clearer and local system of accountability and challenge.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148943
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>Sir Eric Pickles, in his review, ‘Securing the Ballot’, also made the following recommendation:</p><p>“To consider implementing a process for electors’ complaints about the administration of elections (which do not aim to overturn the result) to be investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman in England, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Ombudsman as a means of providing an appropriate and accessible channel for considering complaints of a less serious nature.”</p><p>The Government, in its response to the report, agreed with this recommendation and will look to bring this forward at a suitable opportunity.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:18:03 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith

915150

	registered interest
	date	01/06/2018
	answering body	Cabinet Office
	answering dept id	53
	answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
	answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
	hansard heading	Elections: Deposits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the implications are for the Government's policies of recommendation 27 of the report of the Association of Electoral Administrators entitled It’s time for urgent and positive Government action: The AEA’s review of the 2017 local government elections and the UK Parliamentary general election, published in September 2017, on the Government extending the period to return deposits, whether to candidates or where forfeited, to one calendar week after the date of the poll.
	tabling member constituency	Lancaster and Fleetwood
	tabling member printed	Cat Smith
	uin	148942
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2018 answer text <p>The requirement for Returning Officers to return deposits and surrender forfeited deposits to the Consolidated Fund no later than the next working day after the declaration of the result is set out in primary legislation. We have no plans to amend this requirement.</p> answering member constituency Norwich North answering member printed Chloe Smith question first answered 08/06/2018 14:21:14 answering member 1609 label Biography information for Chloe Smith
	tabling member	4436 label Biography information for Cat Smith