Looking forward to 2022/23 our focus will be on beginning to deliver on the ambitions in our new corporate plan. Our Corporate Plan 2022/23 – 2026/27, which we laid in the UK Parliament and Scottish Parliament in April 2022, and the related Corporate Plan for Wales, establish our strategic objectives for the period.

The Commission’s objectives for 2022/23 – 2026/27

1. Accessible registration and voting 

We will work to ensure: increased levels of voter registration, especially amongst groups that currently have difficulty engaging in the process; the removal of barriers, especially those that affect people who currently have difficulty trying to cast their vote.

2. Transparent political campaigning and compliant political finance

We will work to ensure: increased levels of confidence shown by candidates, parties and other campaigners in their ability to understand, apply and comply with the law on campaigning and political finance; high levels of compliance with registration, reporting and other political finance laws.

3. Resilient local electoral services 

We will work to ensure: sustained and consistent high performance in the delivery of well-run elections; increased levels of confidence shown by electoral administrators in the resilience of the electoral system

4. Fair and effective electoral law 

We will work to: support governments and parliaments to reform electoral law to make it less complex; reduce the risks and inefficiencies associated with electoral law which impact our electoral system.

5. A modern and sustainable electoral system 

We will work to ensure: data and technology are harnessed to meet the needs of voters, campaigners and electoral administrators; the changing risks to the election system from the misuse of data and technology are understood and acted upon; strong relationships and streamlined working practices with all bodies that are part of the electoral system are developed; governments and the wider electoral community are supported to adopt a strategy and implementation plan which reduces the environmental impact of our electoral system.

Three key factors will help us achieve our objectives:

1. We demonstrate independence and integrity

We will continue to demonstrate how we fulfil this by: taking decisions on the evidence and being transparent about the reasons for them; basing our policy positions and recommendations on analysis of evidence; effectively communicating our work and views; providing responsive services to those we support; maintaining effective governance arrangements

2. We are a skilled organisation where diversity is valued 

We will: implement refreshed working practices to reflect wider changes in our work environment and culture; attract, retain and develop the people we need; maintain and improve high standards of management, with a focus on developing our people; further embed equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work

3. We are a learning organisation where improvement is continuous and resources are used effectively

We will: procure and implement value for money technology that improves service delivery as appropriate; maintain a sound prudent financial strategy; continue to develop techniques to learn from experience, seek continuous improvement and become more efficient and effective; develop a corporate environmental strategy that meets policy and legislative requirements.

Looking ahead

For 2022/23, we highlight the following key risks, challenges and opportunities:

  • Our immediate priority is the delivery of the May 2022 polls, including the Northern Ireland assembly elections and early voting pilots in Wales. We will report on the conduct of the elections in the autumn of 2022.
  • The UK Government’s Elections Bill received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022, making wide-ranging changes to how elections are run, the way people vote, campaigning, and political spending and funding. This initiates a substantial programme of work for across our functions. We will work closely with the UK government, electoral administrators and other stakeholders in developing and delivering our implementation plans. Timescales for implementing the required changes will be set by the UK government and are likely to be challenging for both for us and for the wider electoral community. We are working to ensure the risks are understood and to do what we can to mitigate them, with dedicated resources, specific project, and risk management in place to support the successful delivery of our own activity.
  • We have ambitious plans for investing in technology, upgrading our infrastructure and delivering the new Political Finance Online system to the first users. Updating our internal infrastructure will be a key priority for the first part of year, improving efficient working practices and providing a solid basis to set a new digital strategy consistent with our ambitions for the Commission and modern elections.
  • Refreshing our working practices and culture. Priorities for 2022/23 will include substantially developing our approach to diversity and inclusion, upgrading our learning and development, and improving recruitment and induction processes. To support our financial strategy and deliver value for money we also plan to improve financial forecasting and budgeting.