Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government
(): The Government is committed
to ensuring that our democracy is secure, fair, modern and
transparent. It is vital for the health of our democracy that the
United Kingdom have an independent regulator that commands trust
across the political spectrum and is fully accountable to
Parliament.
That is why the Elections Act 2022 (“the Act”) made provision for
a Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission.
Following a period of consultation, the Government is today
laying the final draft Statement before Parliament for approval.
The Statement will strengthen the Electoral Commission’s
accountability to the UK Parliament while respecting its
operational independence.
The Statement sets out the strategic and policy priorities of the
UK Government and the roles and responsibilities of the Electoral
Commission in enabling the UK Government to meet those
priorities, including tackling issues such as voter fraud,
improving the accessibility of elections, and improving
participation. It also contains guidance relating to particular
matters in respect of which the Electoral Commission has
functions. If approved by a resolution of each House of
Parliament, the Electoral Commission will have a duty to have
regard to the Statement when carrying out its functions.
Given the nature of the Electoral Commission’s work, it is right
that the Commission remain directly accountable to the UK
Parliament via the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral
Commission (“Speaker’s Committee”). The Statement strengthens the
Electoral Commission’s accountability to Parliament because the
Act also gave the Speaker’s Committee new powers to examine the
Commission’s performance of its duty to have regard to the
Statement.
The Statement has been subject to a statutory consultation and
the enhanced parliamentary procedure. The statutory consultation
took place between 22 August 2022 and 20 December 2022. In
response, the Government made substantive amendments to the
draft, including clarifying that the Statement must be compatible
with the foundational principle of the Electoral Commission’s
operational independence. The Government’s response to the
consultation and a revised draft Statement were then laid before
Parliament on 8 June 2023 for a 60-day period to invite
representations from Parliamentarians. This period ended on 14
September 2023.
The Government has considered carefully the representations
received from Parliamentarians. These representations reiterated
views articulated during the statutory consultation, particularly
concerning the impact the Statement could have on the
independence of the Electoral Commission.
After careful consideration, the Government has decided not to
make any amendments to the draft Statement of June 2023 and will
proceed with laying the Statement before Parliament unamended
(save a few minor stylistic changes). This is because the
Government had already made substantive revisions to the
Statement after the statutory consultation, to provide
clarifications and reassurances relating to the operational
independence of the Electoral Commission. Given that the
representations largely reiterated views articulated during the
consultation, the Government’s view is that the remaining
objections are matters which cannot be satisfied by amending the
Statement without compromising significantly its original policy
intent.
The Electoral Commission’s legal duty to have regard to the
Statement does not replace or undermine its other statutory
duties nor does it give the Government powers to direct its
decision making. The Statement is clear that the Commission will
remain operationally independent, with Electoral Commissioners
and the Commission’s executive leadership remaining responsible
for determining the Commission’s strategic priorities and how the
Commission discharges its functions.
Overall, it is the Government’s view that improving the Electoral
Commission’s accountability to the UK Parliament will result in
greater public confidence in its work.
