Government insists Electoral Commission will remain operationally independent after designation of strategy and policy statement

The Government has designated the Electoral Commission Strategy and Policy Statement to which the elections watchdog will now have to have regard in the discharge of its functions.

An explanatory memorandum published yesterday (29 February) said the Statement sets out the strategic and policy priorities of the Government and the role and responsibilities of the Commission in enabling the Government to meet those priorities.

The Statement also includes guidance relating to particular matters in respect of which the Commission has functions.

The explanatory memorandum said: "The duty to have regard to the Statement means that when carrying out its functions, the Electoral Commission will be required to consider this Statement and weigh it up against any other relevant considerations.”

The Electoral Commission Strategy and Policy Statement, which can be viewed here, emphasises that the Commission remains "operationally independent" and that the statement does not seek to interfere with its governance.

But it notes that the Commission should be fully accountable as a public body with such important responsibilities relating to democratic process.

As such, it should "provide transparency around its decision making" and work closely with the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission and the UK Parliament "to ensure public and democratic accountability," the document says.

Among the comprehensive list of guidance notes for the Commission, the Statement sets out how the organisation should approach enforcement.

It says that: "The Commission should ensure objective, impartial, consistent, effective, proportionate and fair enforcement of the rules legislated by Parliament as appropriate and in accordance with the guidance set out in its Enforcement Policy."

In addition, the Statement says the Commission's approach to enforcement "must have regard to the importance of improving confidence in the fairness of its decision-making. This includes providing, where appropriate, those it regulates with a clear explanation of the rationale for the size of the sanctions it imposes in individual cases".

Elsewhere, the Statement calls on the Commission to publish information about rules and requirements relating to voter registration, spending, and donations received, of political parties, candidates, campaigners and others.

The Commission should also produce high-quality and accessible guidance for campaigners on how to comply with new rules legislated by Parliament in the Elections Act 2022, such as the restriction on foreign third-party campaigning.

On tackling fraud, the Statement says the Commission should effectively support returning officers, electoral registration officers, presiding officers and the police in identifying and addressing the risk of corrupt and illegal practices, "including intimidation and undue influence as evident from past Election Court judgements including the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2015".

In addition, the document says the Commission should support work focused on removing intimidation in public life by updating any section of the guidance that it is responsible for in the 'Joint Guidance on Intimidation for Candidates' jointly produced with the National Police Chiefs Council, Crown Prosecution Service and the College of Policing.

The Commission should also provide clear guidance on how to deliver robust polls, the Statement adds.

It says the Commission should support continued delivery of voter identification by raising public awareness of the new requirement and by assisting councils in issuing free voter authority certificates.

The Electoral Commission has previously voiced concern that the Statement might undermine its independence.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee and the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission have also expressed fears about the Statement's implications for the Commission.

However, in a letter last month to the chair of the Levelling Up committee, Clive Betts MP, Local Government Minister Simon Hoare said he wanted to provide “absolute assurances” that the Commission’s independence would not be undermined.

“The Government is clear that the Statement must always be compatible with the foundational principle of the Commission’s operational independence. Nothing in the Statement compels the Commission specifically to take, or not to take, any particular action,” Hoare said.

"The Commission is simply required to consider the Statement and weigh it up against any other relevant considerations."

According to Hoare, the legal duty to have regard to the Statement does not replace or undermine the Commission's other statutory duties or give the Government power to direct its decision-making.

Adam Carey