Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Recommendation 12

Fifth Report - The Elections Bill Published 13 Dec 2021 Paragraph 45

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee The Elections Bill All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

The Government has committed to respecting devolved competence where they are touched upon in this Bill. If this were to change, we expect the Committee and the House to be notified of the reasons for such a change in advance of a final vote on the Bill. One of the effects of the Bill would be to create further divergence between the rules for how elections are conducted in different parts of the UK. This is of concern as while some small differences can be accommodated and understood by the UK’s electorates, the increasing number of differences will add to the complexity and potentially to confusion for voters, electoral campaigners and electoral administrators. We are clear that this is not an issue caused by the UK Government alone. The four Governments of the UK should seek to develop a more coordinated approach to electoral policy and law.

From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Fifth Report - The Elections Bill (HC 597), paragraph 45, 13 December 2021

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 10 February 2022 (deadline 13 February 2022).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government accepts some of the Committee's recommendations in part, for example agreeing "in principle" that electoral law would benefit from consolidation, but disagrees with others, including removing the Electoral Commission clauses, and does not accept that there was a lack of pre-legislative consultation and scrutiny.

On consolidating electoral law, the government "agrees in principle" that it would benefit, but calls it "a long-term project" and "not something to rush", with its immediate priority being its manifesto pledges.
On post-legislative scrutiny, it says an amendment is not necessary as scrutiny after Royal Assent is "standard practice", and a statutory requirement "risks not allowing for the necessary flexibility".
On the Electoral Commission, the government says it "disagrees" with the recommendation to remove the relevant clauses, and does not consider the effect of the duty to "have regard" to the Statement needs clarifying on the face of the Bill.
On voter ID, it does not pause the policy, citing its Equality Impact Assessment and a 2021 survey finding 98% held accepted photographic identification, and says it will "carry out thorough research" on implementation.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error