Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Rejected
Require Government to clarify acceptance of electoral law simplification and consolidation
Recommendation
The Government should make clear whether it accepts in principle that UK elections law needs simplification and consolidation, and if it does not should set out its evidence for this position in full in its response to this report. (Recommendation, Paragraph 44)
Government Response Summary
The government explains that while it understands calls for electoral law consolidation, it is not prioritizing this major reform due to the extensive time, resources, and multi-Parliamentary commitment required, focusing instead on current manifesto pledges and its ongoing Review of Electoral Registration and Conduct, which explicitly excluded consolidation.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
While we understand the calls for consolidation of electoral law, major reform would require careful consideration and an extensive amount of time. Full-scale consolidation and simplification, as called for by the sector and recommended by the Committee, would require in-depth review and modernisation alongside consolidation. Achieving this would be the job of more than one Parliament. We must also be realistic when considering the amount of time for any government to achieve the promises set out in the manifesto upon which it was elected. Commitments made to the electorate must be a priority. This Government already has an ambitious agenda to improve our elections, including giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections and strengthening the rules around donations to political parties. We are focused on delivering that agenda. However, we are cognisant of the challenges facing elections teams and will continue to look at areas which help to modernise and improve electoral process and delivery. We have already begun work to look more closely at this through our Review of Electoral Registration and Conduct. This Review and its recommendations provide an important first step in identifying essential changes which are needed to address the biggest risks and challenges in electoral delivery. We are confident that these measures, combined with the approach to electoral reform outlined in our recently published Strategy, will deliver much needed improvements for both administrators and electors, and the proposals put forward have been generally welcomed by the electoral sector. It should also be noted that consolidation of electoral law was out of scope of the Review due to the scale of work involved.