Home / Sources / Select Committees / Fourth Special Report - The Work of the Electoral Commissio…
Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Fourth Special Report - The Work of the Electoral Commission: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report

Published 19 January 2023

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee The Work of the Electoral Commission Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to Second Report - The Work of the Electoral Commission.

This is the government's response, published 19 January 2023.

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

The Government agrees that simplifying and consolidating electoral law would be desirable, but gives priority to implementing the Elections Act 2022, and it expressly disagrees with one recommendation on consultation timeframes.

  • On consolidating electoral law, it calls this "a long-term project" that is "not something to rush", and says its "immediate priority" is implementing the Elections Act changes.
  • On shorter investigation time limits, it says it will "continue to keep under review" aligning the PPERA regime with the RPA regime, and "will consider" the evidence from witnesses.
  • On higher maximum fines, it "considers the existing levels of penalties available to the Commission suitable" and says any extension "would need to be considered carefully".
  • On the Strategy and Policy Statement, it states it "does not agree" with applying the same consultation timeframe to future Statements, calling this "overly rigid and inflexible".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Sources