§ Mr. FitzpatrickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he has decided to proceed in negotiations with any of the companies which expressed interest in providing electronic equipment for use in the Greater London Authority elections. [93063]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe London Mayor and Assembly elections on 4 May 2000—subject to Parliamentary approval—provide an excellent opportunity to introduce a more up-to-date system of counting of votes, more in keeping with modern technology and systems.
Following my announcement on 5 July 1999, Official Report, column 378; of our shortlist of potential suppliers of electronic equipment for the London Mayor and Assembly elections, we have been considering in more detail the equipment on offer from these suppliers. If the count for the London elections next year—which will comprise three ballots—is conducted in the traditional manual manner, it could take up to three days. That is why I am particularly pleased that three of the suppliers have offered electronic counting equipment. These machines have the capacity to scan many thousands of ballot papers an hour and so could reduce the count to a matter of hours. They are also more accurate than manual systems. We have therefore decided to proceed in negotiation with the three suppliers offering electronic counting equipment: Data & Research Services plc; Election Systems & Software Inc. with Unisys Ltd.; and Smurfit Ltd.
The final decision on whether to award a contract is likely to be made in September when the proposals have been fully evaluated. We will be looking for value for money, and we will need to be absolutely confident that the chosen method is accurate and efficient. All the equipment we are considering has been tried and tested in elections elsewhere.