§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the turnout in(a) the May 2000 local elections and (b) each of the previous five local elections for each local authority area which conducted pilot projects of alternative voting procedures under the Representation of the People Act 2000; what alternative procedures were used in each case; what plans he has to extend such alternative procedures to all local elections in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [121987]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienInformation about turnout in local authority elections for the previous five local elections for each local authority is not held centrally and we would need to obtain this from local authorities and this would be at disproportionate cost.
A list of the local authorities running pilot schemes at the recent local elections was provided in a reply I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Stockport (Ms Coffey) on 21 March 2000, Official Report, columns 486-87W.
523WSection 10 of the Representation of the People Act 2000, requires local authorities which ran pilot schemes to produce an evaluation report within three months of the election. No decisions on roll-out can be made until this process has been completed.