Issue - meetings

Implications of the Elections Act 2022

Meeting: 05/07/2022 - Executive (Item 75)

75 Implications of the Elections Act 2022 pdf icon PDF 346 KB

To consider the report of the Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Agreed:

 

RECOMMENDED that Council:-

 

(1)  note the report and consider specific implications as and when further legislation is brought into force, over the next 6 - 18 months; and

(2)  approve a supplementary budget of up to £50,000 for the 2022/23 financial year, and any potential future budgetary requirements, to meet the immediate demands of the Elections Act 2022.

 

Reason for Decision: As set out in the report.

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

The Executive received the report on the implementation of the Elections Act 2022, which had received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022, and the potential impact on budgets and resources. Details of the various implications, costs and resources were presented in Appendix A of the report. Some parts of the Elections Act 2022 would be implemented by December 2022.

 

Particular reference was made to the following:-

 

·        the need for the Council to make necessary budgetary plans to ensure it meets its obligations ahead of December 2022, and until confirmation was received from the Government to the budgetary support that would be made available to local authorities;

·        an additional budget of £50,000 was sought for the current financial year pending confirmation of any extra funding support; and

·        the need to plan ahead in anticipation of likely additional throughput at the polling stations themselves for which additional members of staff would be on duty on the day, as well as polling equipment and an additional staff member for the Electoral Service team.

 

Councillor D. Moore, as an opposition group leader, had submitted a question on this item, but was unable to be present. The question and answer are attached to the minutes.

 

The Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support responded as follows to Members’ queries:-

 

·        postal vote applicants would be required to refresh their applications every three years as opposed to the current five year requirement;

·        further reductions could be required unless the Government fully funds the ongoing costs associated with the measures. There was a “new burdens” agreement between Central and Local Government whereby the Government promise to fully fund additional burdens on the sector - however this was often done at national level; and

·        although there had been two suspected incidents of electoral fraud in recent elections in Exeter, both had been dismissed after Police investigation.

 

During the discussion, the following points were made:-

 

·        concerns that individuals without ID such as a driving licence or passport would be excluded from voting;

·        during a test pilot in London, approximately 1,000 voters had been turned away from the polling stations and had not returned; and

·        of the 58 million who had voted in the 2019 elections, there had been 33 suspected voter impersonations, that is 0.0001%.

 

RECOMMENDED that Council:-

 

(1)   note the report and consider specific implications as and when further legislation is brought into force, over the next 6 - 18 months; and

(2)   approve a supplementary budget of up to £50,000 for the 2022/23 financial year, and any potential future budgetary requirements, to meet the immediate demands of the Elections Act 2022.