Tag: Lord Rennard

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish data showing the number of entries on the electoral register as at 1 December 2015; and if so, whether they will break down that information by (1) country, (2) constituency and (3) local authority.

Lord Bridges of Headley

On 24th February the Office for National Statistics will publish total register entries at a local authority level for local government registers and at a constituency level for parliamentary registers. The Electoral Commission is planning to publish a report in late February/early March on the state of the December 2015 registers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many allegations of personation were made to the police in respect of the EU referendum, how many of these are under active investigation, and what proportion this represents of votes cast in the referendum.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The Electoral Commission’s report on the EU Referendum has found that at the referendum there were 19 allegations relating to personation at a polling station and that following police inquiries, five of these cases have been resolved as no further action required, one resulted in a caution being accepted, and the remaining 13 are still under investigation. The Commission’s report states that 33,577,342 votes were cast at the referendum. The Government is currently considering the recommendations of the independent review by my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Sir Eric Pickles), which includes recommendations on tackling the scope for personation and introducing voter ID at polling stations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the completeness of the electoral register as at 1 December 2015, broken down by (1) the UK in total, (2) country, (3) local authority and (4) constituency.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Electoral Commission is expected to publish their assessment of the completeness and accuracy of the first full electoral registers under IER this summer. This will provide a breakdown at a country level but not by local authority or constituency. The previous study of this nature was based on the last registers prior to the introduction IER, published in February/March 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reported concerns about (1) the use of ordinary pencils for ballot papers as opposed to pens or pencils with indelible ink, and (2) ballot papers being changed, during the EU referendum ballot; and whether they are planning to ensure that polling stations are provided with special ballot pens or pencils using indelible ink.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The Government has noted the Electoral Commission’s comments on this issue in its report on the EU Referendum. The rules governing the conduct of the referendum, which were based on the legislation in place for UK Parliamentary elections, did not specify the type of writing implement that electors must use to complete their ballot paper and voters were able to use the pencil provided or mark their ballot paper with a pen if they preferred. There were also specific safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the ballot.

We are not aware of any cases of ballot papers being changed at the referendum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s conclusion in its report UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report, that the Commission should be provided with investigative powers and sanctions for offences relating to candidate spending and donations at specified elections”.”

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Electoral Commission published its “UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report” on 29 February 2016. The Government is considering the report and will respond in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Electoral Commission published its “UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report” on 29 February 2016. The Government is considering the report and will respond in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response the Law Commissions’ recommendations to reform UK electoral law.

Lord Bridges of Headley

The Government is currently considering the recommendations made by the Law Commissions in their interim report of 4 February. This is a wide-ranging report that covers a number of complex issues and it is important that the Government give the report due consideration before a formal response is made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-02-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish details of the recommendations for potential changes to electoral legislation by Sir Eric Pickles MP.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Sir Eric Pickles will make his recommendations as soon as he is able. 66 written submissions are under consideration, as well as evidence provided in meetings with specific people and at a seminar of academics, stakeholder organisations and political parties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 14 June (HL Deb, col 1099), what action they are taking in response to the practice by some companies of supplying low-tax foreign markets with more tobacco than they are capable of consuming, thereby facilitating their products being brought back to the UK and depriving HM Revenue and Customs of revenue.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The UK introduced stringent rules in 2006 requiring all UK Tobacco Manufacturers (TMs) to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and/or HRT (hand rolling tobacco) to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.

Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules. HMRC action, in monitoring TM’s compliance, is reflected in a reduction in supplies of UK brand cigarettes to high risk markets of 20% since 2010. At the same time, supplies to those markets of UK brand Hand Rolling Tobacco (HRT) has reduced by 36%.

Despite this success HMRC is not complacent. They continue to closely monitor the illicit market in the UK, which today is made up of a mix of unregulated brands, non UK brands, and counterfeit as well as genuine UK brands, to ensure the legislation is working. HMRC also robustly challenge TM’s supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules.

HMRC cannot comment on the progress of individual investigations but it is a matter of public record that one manufacturer has been subject to a supply chain penalty. This penalty is currently under to appeal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rennard on 2016-06-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their current estimate of the loss of tax revenue each year owing to tobacco smuggling.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The 2014/15 tax revenue loss associated with illicit tobacco, including both cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco, is estimated to be £2.1 billion.

Estimates of UK tax revenue losses are published every year. The latest estimates, for the years 2006/7 to 2014/15, are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates 2014-15’.