Parliamentary Parties Panel minutes: 6 February 2024

KB said the Liberal Democrats had arranged a meeting with the National Police Chiefs Council but the meeting was cancelled with little notice. The meeting has been reorganised to take place virtually.  

KB said concerns had been raised with her about the difference between spending limits in the legislation in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act and Representation of the People Act for non-party campaigners. She queried the sum of £17,553. DC outlined how this operates and offered to provide more information in a bulletin to political parties. KB said specific guidance for political parties would be helpful.

AS said the Commission’s in-house project team have completed work with external consultants and produced a report advising on possible next steps for the project. A structural business case setting out the next steps for the project will be produced within the next month. The Commission has created a dedicated development team to work on the project from 1 April 2024. The Commission continues to be mindful of election cycles and capacity within political parties at different points in this cycle when developing the project. The Commission will be able to share further planned activity once the funding position for the upcoming financial year has been agreed. An update will be provided at the next PPP meeting in June.

KB asked about the Commission’s capacity to manage the project internally and the decision to move the project in-house. AS said a dedicated in-house team had been created to allow the Commission to fully understand the requirements and the team will be focused on working on individual modules to create the right solutions for stakeholders. KB said it was important that the Commission keep communicating with PPP members on the project’s progress.

AM said it was sensible to breakdown the project into modules and it was encouraging that the Commission was open to learning from previous iterations of the project. CW emphasised that while the project has restarted there is ‘banked work’ which feeds into its future management of this project, including the work done with parties to understand their needs. AS confirmed the Commission is aware of the lack of capacity in an election year within political parties.

RV said the Commission had learned from previous stages in the project and understood the need to demonstrate grip with the current project.

BC listed the remaining measures included in the Elections Act that have recently come into force, noting the spending limit SI will be moved in the next few weeks.

PD said in response to queries about pre-pay envelopes, the advice would be for individuals to register via the online portal. In response to a previous query about pre-pay free postage, PD said this is a matter for individual EROs and not for the Department to take a view.

KB said EROs have reported to her that they are struggling to recruit enough staff due to a combination of concerns about Voter ID, issues with masking and COVID concerns. RV said at a recent AEA conference this view was also expressed, demonstrating it is a wider issue, and it was also an issue affecting the management of vote counts. AM said due to recent merging of council areas, there may be some additional capacity within the system. PD said DLUHC is engaging in work to support recruitment and training often helps to alleviate volunteers’ concerns.  

PD said there had been an issue with ballot papers for the upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections and DLUHC is working on a pragmatic solution. PD said the Commission’s guidance for the PCC elections is accurate. KB asked whether a list of candidates had been published. PD said there are plans for an Order to be made in mid-February and a list published.

CW said the Commission’s campaigns and resources for Voter ID ahead of the May elections, and for overseas electors eligible to vote at the UKPGE, are both live. The Commission is continuing to engage with government and partner organisations on the issue of dis and mis-information. He encouraged parties and candidates are encouraged to capture their experiences during the campaigning period, to support them in informing the Commission’s post poll reporting after the elections.

DC said that political parties are now in the regulated period and if members wish clarity on the related guidance they are encouraged to get in touch with the Commission. DC said long campaign guidance would be published shortly.  

CL raised concerns about the turn-around time for queries, asked for further clarity on guidance relating to the splitting of campaign material and party spend material, and guidance for auditors. AM said it would be helpful for the Commission to consider the escalation process when issues arise with significant media pressure suggesting that a single point of contact would be helpful. DC said the team would look at resourcing for upcoming general election, but the intention would be to have queries answered promptly. DC said the request for auditor training would be taken away and considered, and the single point of contact model is being considered.

LC briefed members on work to improve the accessibility of protective security guidance for candidates ahead of this year’s elections. The Government is working with various organisations, including the Commission, to publish guidance for candidates on a central landing page on gov.uk in the first week of March. The team will be writing to political party chief executives to raise awareness of this resource, but asked the PPP membership about other routes to contact candidates.

Members agreed that chief executives or general secretaries were the best point of contact. AM said the nominating officer in each party would be well placed to direct resources to the party’s candidates. RV said Returning Officers would be briefing candidates so able to pass on relevant guidance. PD said the single point of contact within the relevant police force may also be a useful contact. AB asked if guidance would be developed for candidates previously elected as MPs. CW asked if there were plans to contact every party on the register, not just those that attend the PPP. LC said the guidance was for all candidates and there is work ongoing to provide resources for candidates previously elected as MPs. 

AM said the PPP members who responded to the consultation agreed unanimously with four of the five proposed changes to the Code, which were to:

• Encourage voters in the first instance to use the online registration and online absent vote application services.
• Ensure that the local Electoral Registration Officer’s (ERO) address is clearly provided as the return address for paper registration and absent vote application forms.
• Ensure that if campaigners agree to take a voter’s application form, they have sealed it in an envelope.  
• Ensure that it reaches the ERO within two working days of receipt.

AM noted that there was no consensus among members of the PPP to agree with the proposal that campaigners should never ask voters to return completed registration and absent vote applications to any other address except that of the Electoral Registration Officer. AM noted separately the administrative burden created for electors using OAVA and stressed that the parties may still need to request paper forms.

TH said that the AEA have suggested a factual change to reflect changes in law with regard to proxy applications. AM said there were no objections from those present to this change. TH said the Commission would make the agreed changes and circulate the amended code to the PPP membership. 

PD said this item was largely covered in Item 3 and suggested that given the progress of the legislation this standing item could be dropped going forward.

AM thanked DLUHC and the Commission on behalf of the wider group for the way the legislation had been introduced and for the way that issues had been flagged promptly. PD and CW thanked AM for the positive feedback. 

AM asked JK if she would like to take this opportunity to introduce herself to the group. JK gave a brief introduction.  

RV said the Commission had recently recruited Hannah Brown as Head of Registration, Compliance and Transparency. DC said a new Head of Regulatory Action and Enforcement will start in mid-April. 

The next meeting was agreed for Tuesday 4 June 2024.