Board minutes: 16 July 2024

The Board Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Jackie Killeen, Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance, had sent apologies. Tom Hawthorn, Interim Director of Policy and Research, and Niki Nixon, Interim Director of Communications were welcomed to the meeting and to their new roles.

Elan Closs Stephens had registered new interests as Vice President of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (from April 2023); Board member and Trustee of the Hay Festival, Hay on Wye (from July 2024); Council Member of the Social Partnership Council appointed by Welsh Government to represent the Public Leaders Forum, chaired by Elan (from February 2024); and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Dictionary of National Biographies (Wales)/ Y Bywgraffiadur.

hris Ruane would confirm details of a new appointment for registration.

The Chief Executive reported on activities underway following the UK parliamentary general election held on 4 July, including:

• induction of new members of the UK parliament and correspondence from the Chair to new ministers
• partnership working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MCLG) underway
• the preparation of post-poll reporting, covering such issues as abuse and intimidation of candidates, and issues affecting postal voting, overseas voting and the wider impact of voter ID
• a review of strategic risks was to be carried out, with the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee’s agreement. The Commission would discontinue use of the performance and risk management system in use, Pentana, and develop a revised risk management approach to suit the organisation’s revised arrangements and implementation of the new Corporate Plan.

There was Commissioner encouragement for depth of analysis as feasible on voter ID and its impact on voters, to identify possible barriers. Turnout would be considered as would national trends, where sample sizes allowed. Research drafting would be shared with Commissioners. Prompt reporting was sought in preparation for the May 2025 polls.

The Chief Executive also reported on progress on corporate matters. Pay negotiations with PCS union were making progress, as agreed with the Remuneration and Human Resources Committee. Negotiations were on the basis that staff on the lowest pay should have a proportionately greater pay rise. The three parliamentary committees had been notified. The Local Government Boundary Commission’s move to Bunhill Row was moving ahead; office reconfiguration meant that there would be no net loss of space.

Resolved: That the Board noted the Chief Executive’s update.

The Chair commended all the Commission’s teams across the organisation for strong support for the 4 July parliamentary general election in the run up and on the day itself. The election generally ran well. The following issues were highlighted in discussion:

• a number of risks under surveillance in advance of the elections had not materialised
• significant levels of preparation of guidance and engagement with stakeholders had been carried out. Post poll feedback from parties and administrators would be reviewed
• the Commission had dealt with a high volume of public questions before the poll and consideration would be given to the points arising
• the Commission’s media presence had worked well
• the staffing of polls had worked out
• abuse and intimidation of candidates and police support for some candidates had been an issue. There had been an unacceptable level of abuse and intimidation of candidates and others;
• in context of a generally smooth process, the overall electoral system had not worked for some voters on 4 July. There had been postal voting issues, especially in Scotland relating in part to printer supply issues
• the election timetable had created issues, falling within the holiday period in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Absent voting arrangements was an area for attention.
• Royal Mail had improved its centralised command and control arrangements and we would gather evidence on the extent to which this delivered consistently across the country. There appeared to have been a high level of overseas voters unable to vote.

Commissioners were generally positive about their experience of observing polling stations on 4 July, in the context of areas highlighted. Candidate abuse and intimidation pointed to wider societal issues beyond elections.

Commissioner feedback reiterated the importance of review of the constraints created by areas of electoral law needing revision including issues around the integrity of the system of postal votes. A successful roundtable discussion with key electoral lawyers on reforming and modernising electoral law had taken place on 15 July to identify areas of consensus for change and explore how these could be achieved. Issues arising would be taken forward.

Further research and analysis would be conducted for post poll reporting. Joint work would be carried out with MCLG which was interested in overlapping areas.

Resolved: That the Board noted the Parliamentary General Election stocktake in preparation for a new parliament.

Consultation with Commissioners on the 2025 - 30 Corporate Plan had been underway since April 2024. Commissioners’ views were sought to sense check the more detailed proposed workstreams, prioritisation and sequencing emerging. The timetables for submitting budgets with plans to the Welsh and Scottish parliaments in September 2024 were set. The Commission demonstrated accountability through the way it developed new areas of work and submitted its resource estimates to parliaments.

New workstreams were being worked up by teams together with an assessment of ongoing business costs for 2025/26 and a new costs attribution framework for Wales and Scotland. In particular, the new framework would estimate the costs for those which fell to Westminster only, core spend, or costs directly attributable to Wales or Scotland.

More detailed proposals would be shared with the Board in September. Areas for attention Commissioners highlighted in discussion were to:

• assess what electoral law reform activities would be achievable and could be sequenced within this period, while looking at support from the Commission to give to partners to progress electoral law reform more widely. Enforcement and investigation fell into this area
• for voting at 16 years, consider Commission policy and scale up educational activities carried out by the Commission and with partners, carefully considering the benefits and costs of grant making. Clarify that teaching and learning would relate to the democratic framework and processes, to give reassurance to teachers
• assess in full the different research model options including Citizens Assemblies and deliberative research, to determine a best fit for reporting needs
• understand the ownership, configuration and capability requirement associated with the data systems to support automatic voter registration, and establish where the Commission’s participation would sit in wider work being undertaken by others
• ensure that investment into the Commission’s corporate centre was sufficient  to enable the organisation to function effectively.

Resolved: That the Board noted the emerging workstreams for the Corporate Plan 2025 – 30.

The proposal for the campaigns to support the 1 May 2025 polls was to run campaigns related to voter registration, awareness of the requirement to bring photo ID to vote, a campaign on voter fraud, in partnership with Crimestoppers and the Cabinet Office.

Discussion took account of the success of campaigns work to date, giving visibility to the role of the voter. The communications approach was integrated, with social media activities co-ordinated alongside the campaigns, creating flexibility and innovation in a changing environment. Messages needed to be straightforward.

Clarifications established that the cost of door drops was prohibitive for voter ID and registration campaigns and TV advertising reached more people. A digital strategy would be needed to reach a future point of data analysis which could find any trends such as whether there was a connection between newly registered voters and voting turnout. The purpose of the campaigns was not turnout-related.

Resolved: That the Board approved the budget for the Commission’s public awareness campaigns.

The minutes of the Board meeting held on 25 June 2024 were accepted.

A board workshop was to follow this meeting to draw together the team coaching workstreams and create a forward plan for board effectiveness.

The status of actions which had been requested by the Board was noted.

A consultation would be carried out upon future meeting plans.

Resolved: That the Board noted the governance and procedural matters reports including agreement to the minutes of the meeting held on 25 June.