Covid-secure elections will go ahead on 6 May

• “Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid”, as UK Government confirms local elections will go ahead on 6 May 2021

• Total of £92 million central funding will support the covid-secure polls

• Those who need to self-isolate can request an emergency proxy vote at short notice

“Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid” says the UK Constitution Minister Chloe Smith, who confirms today that covid-secure council, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections will go ahead as planned on 6 May in England and Wales.

There will be an estimated £92 million of government grant funding that will be provided to local authorities for the elections; of this, £31 million is an uplift to directly address costs associated with making the elections covid-secure.

Ministers have also today published a clear delivery plan, to support candidates and parties to put their case to voters, and ensure local elections teams can facilitate the covid-secure polls effectively.

Proxy voting rules will also be changed, enabling those who need to self-isolate to request an emergency proxy vote at short notice - right up to 5pm on polling day itself. This will mean that voters who have tested positive for Covid-19, or are self isolating, can still have their say in these elections without having to leave their residence.

Other measures for these elections will cover safety precautions at polling stations, including asking voters to bring their own pen or pencil to the polling station to mark their ballots.

Any elector can also request a postal vote in advance, and the Government encourages early applications for absent voting. The Government will not be imposing compulsory postal voting as this could increase fraud risk and reduce choice for voters.

Minister of State for the Constitution & Devolution, Chloe Smith, said:

“We are publishing a detailed plan to deliver May’s elections in a safe and secure way. This is backed up by additional funding for councils, and practical changes to electoral laws to help both voters and candidates.

“Democracy should not be cancelled because of covid. More than ever, local people need their say as we build back better, on issues ranging from local roads, to safer streets, to the level of council tax.

“As the Government rolls out the vaccine to the most vulnerable, we will be able to leave lockdown and open our country up safely again. We will work with political parties to ensure that these important elections are free and fair.”

Successful elections have been held around the world while the pandemic has been happening - in Ireland, France, Italy, Portugal, Israel, South Korea and the United States. Further elections in numerous countries are also planned from March to May 2021.

Today’s action plan provides a timeline and further clarity on how the UK Government will support Returning Officers and their partners to deliver covid-secure elections. This includes:

• Amending the law to make it clear that everyone must wear face coverings inside the polling station, in line with broader covid-19 guidance.

• Outlining a range of measures that will be deployed in polling stations to ensure they are Covid-secure, including hand sanitiser, divider screens and asking voters to bring their own pen or pencil.

• For potential candidates standing for elected office, we are introducing measures to reduce the travel involved in completing their nomination forms

The UK’s vaccination programme is planned to have reached all nine priority cohorts by May, meaning that the Government can commit to go ahead with these polls with confidence - and maintain the choice for voters between voting in person or remotely.

Further information on campaigning guidance and the interaction with prevailing covid restrictions will be issued in due course. It is important that political parties’ views are taken on board, so the Government will use the Parliamentary Parties Panel to engage on this guidance, prior to its formal publication.

The United Kingdom has a world class electoral system. We have the utmost confidence in the ability of the sector to run these polls in a way that meets the highest standards of both public safety - minimising the risk of coronavirus transmission - and democratic integrity.

As with any open workplace, polling stations will need to be set up to maximise ventilation, and frequent touch points will need to be cleaned at very regular intervals. People can expect to see many of the protective measures with which the public are now familiar - hand sanitiser will be available and screens, distance markings and protective barriers will be in use as appropriate.

The Government is committed to working collaboratively with political parties, local government, the Electoral Commission, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, the Association of Electoral Administrators and others, to ensure that the known challenges - and any other emerging issues - are addressed swiftly and effectively. We thank them for their commitment to this public service and the hard work that goes into organising every election.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• The Government’s delivery plan is available to all on GOV.UK here. As set out in the plan, the Government will publish additional, specific guidance on nominations and on face-to-face campaigning.

• The Electoral Commission has already published guidance on making elections Covid-secure and the Government will work with them to ensure the guidance is updated as necessary, in accordance with wider restrictions. As ever, the Electoral Commission will run a public awareness campaign for voters in good time ahead of the polls, so that voters are confident about how to participate.

• It is a long-standing rule that councils fund the cost of their own local elections, whilst the Government supports the cost of Police and Crime Commissioner (and UK Parliamentary) elections. Government funding is based on what is actually and necessarily spent by Returning Officers in the running of the polls. The final amount of additional (and total) funding for Police and Crime Commissioner polls will therefore only be known after the election.

• However, the Government estimates that the total cost of Police and Crime Commissioner elections across England and Wales may be in the region of £77 million, including an estimated £16 million of support for additional costs associated with covid - we have been clear that we will reimburse ROs for further, reasonable expenditure incurred due to the pressures of covid.

• A further £15 million of new central support will also now be made available to councils in England to help covid-secure measures in their own local elections.

• This takes the government grant for the elections to an estimated £92 million.

• This total funding is in addition to the extra £1.55 billion of block funding that councils will receive from MHCLG to assist with covid costs.

• The core cost of local government elections is funded through the Local Government Finance Settlement block grants and their own local revenue.

• The Minister of State for the Constitution & Devolution has communicated the Government’s intention today to Parliamentarians and political parties.

• The Minister will also be delivering the keynote speech at the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) annual conference on Monday 8 February.

• This delivery plan applies to all polls in England and to Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales on 6 May 2021.

• Senedd and Scottish Parliament elections are also being held on 6 May 2021 and there are also local polls due to take place in both Scotland and Wales. These are the responsibility of the Welsh and Scottish governments, and are not covered in this plan. A complete list of all elections is published by the Electoral Commission and can be found here.