§ Ms WardTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the names of those local authorities which have applied to him to run electoral Modernisation pilot schemes in the May 2002 elections. [29886]
§ Mr. RaynsfordMy Department has received 41 applications from local authorities to run electoral Modernisation pilot schemes during the May 2002 local elections, involving a range of activities. More than half of the bids contain an element of electronic voting and/or counting; the rest are postal voting and some miscellaneous proposals. The local authorities that have submitted bids are:
- Basingstoke and Deane District Council
- Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council
- Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
- Borough of Broxbourne
- Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
- London Borough of Camden
- Chester City Council
- Chorley Borough Council
- Coventry City Council
- Crawley Borough Council
- Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council
- Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
- London Borough of Enfield
- Epping Forest District Council
- Gateshead Council
- London Borough of Greenwich
717W - London Borough of Hackney
- London Borough of Havering
- Huntingdonshire District Council
- Hyndburn Borough Council
- Ipswich Borough Council
- Kingston-Upon-Hull City Council
- City of Lincoln Council
- Liverpool City Council
- London Borough of Newham
- North Tyneside Council
- North West Leicestershire District Council
- Preston Borough Council
- Rugby Borough Council
- St. Albans City and District Council
- Sheffield City Council
- Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
- South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
- Stevenage Borough Council
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council
- Swindon Borough Council
- Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
- London Borough of Wandsworth
- Watford Council
- West Lancashire District Council
- City of Westminster.
An announcement confirming which bidders have been successful will be made by the end of this month.