Committee on Standards in Public Life: Review of the Electoral Commission
R11-26
Published January 2007
Response position and delivery status are recorded separately. Acceptance does not establish implementation.
Recommendation (the Committee's words)
The Electoral Commission’s statutory remit to report on the conduct of elections should be extended to cover local elections in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
From: Committee on Standards in Public Life, Review of the Electoral Commission, January 2007
Government response
Government response (the government's words)
Electoral Commission reports already include consideration of any alleged fraud around an election and responses to it. They have said that they propose to continue that practice, and the AEA support this. The Government welcomes this assurance.
Both the Commission and AEA take the view that the Commission's statutory responsibilities should include reporting on all local elections in the UK. They are currently able to produce such a report only in response to a specific request from the Secretary of State. In practice this has always happened in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, but a request has never been made in England.
The Government believes that there should be a duty placed on the Commission to report on scheduled local elections in any part of the UK (except Scotland, unless asked to by the Scottish Executive), and a power given to them on the same basis to report on local by-elections. Commission election reports should, as discussed above, address the issue of electoral fraud at the relevant election, but we agree with the Commission that allegations should only feature in the report if they are substantiated.
Both the Commission and AEA take the view that the Commission's statutory responsibilities should include reporting on all local elections in the UK. They are currently able to produce such a report only in response to a specific request from the Secretary of State. In practice this has always happened in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, but a request has never been made in England.
The Government believes that there should be a duty placed on the Commission to report on scheduled local elections in any part of the UK (except Scotland, unless asked to by the Scottish Executive), and a power given to them on the same basis to report on local by-elections. Commission election reports should, as discussed above, address the issue of electoral fraud at the relevant election, but we agree with the Commission that allegations should only feature in the report if they are substantiated.
From: HM Government. Source document ↗