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179043
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2015-02-10more like thismore than 2015-02-10
answering body
Leader of the House more like this
answering dept id 34 more like this
answering dept short name Leader of the House more like this
answering dept sort name Leader of the House more like this
hansard heading Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy more like this
house id 1 more like this
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
question text To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's policies of the report from the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy entitled Open Up, published in January 2015; and which recommendations of that report he plans to implement. more like this
tabling member constituency Birmingham, Northfield more like this
tabling member printed
Richard Burden more like this
uin 224060 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2015-02-23more like thismore than 2015-02-23
answer text <p>The majority of the recommendations in the report from the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy are for the House itself to consider and respond to.<br><br>In relation to the recommendations regarding the legislative process, the Government is committed to ensuring that the legislation it puts before Parliament is of a high standard and to ensuring that Parliament has the necessary means by which to perform its scrutiny function.<br><br>In April 2013, the Government launched the Good Law initiative, designed to promote law which is effective, clear and accessible. Various initiatives have been introduced this Parliament designed to improve the legislative process, including the use of explanatory statements on amendments, improved explanatory notes and piloting public reading stages of Bills. The Government has also given sufficient time to allow proper scrutiny in public bill committees and provided additional days at Commons report stages where necessary.<br><br>The Speaker's Commission also recommended that secure online voting should be an option for all voters by 2020. To make online voting available for UK elections could be attractive in light of current advances in IT. However, there are concerns that e-voting is not sufficiently transparent or secure.<br><br>The major issue raised by those opposed to the introduction of e-voting is that it is not sufficiently robust or trusted. In addition, the cost of introducing such a system would be substantial. Public support for such measures is still far from universal and traditional means of voting (such as polling stations and postal voting) remain popular with the electorate. Therefore, any means of e-voting would have to be introduced as an additional voting channel. Whilst e-voting may be something for the Government to consider in the future, it is not an immediate priority. The experience of the referendum on Scottish independence shows us that if people are engaged in the democratic process they will turn out to vote using the existing mechanism.</p>
answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) more like this
answering member printed Mr William Hague more like this
question first answered
less than 2015-02-23T18:40:44.347Zmore like thismore than 2015-02-23T18:40:44.347Z
answering member
379
label Biography information for Lord Hague of Richmond more like this
tabling member
301
label Biography information for Richard Burden more like this