HC Deb 23 January 2003 vol 398 cc18-20WS
The Minister for Local Government and the Regions (Mr. Nick Raynsford)

The electoral pilot programme is a key part of the Government's efforts to modernise our electoral system. It will allow us to test the robustness of new voting methods, including e-voting, and build public confidence in them. In conjunction with the Electoral Commission and the Local Government Association, we have invited local authorities in England and Wales to take part in this programme by running pilots at local elections during 2003.

Today I am able to announce that I have accepted 18 applications to hold e-voting pilots at the May 2003 local elections. In addition, I have accepted a further 2 applications to hold non e-voting pilots in addition to the 41 contained in my previous announcement on 18 December 2002. The names of these additional 20 successful local authorities and the type of pilot that they are planning to hold are listed at the end of this statement.

In total, I have now accepted 61 applications. covering 6.5million electors. This is a significant increase over the 30 pilots (covering 2.5million electors) held at the May 2002 local elections. The next step will be for us, working with authorities and in consultation with the Electoral Commission, to draw up the statutory orders authorising these pilots.

We will shortly be concluding a competitive procurement, under the EC services directive, for a number of suppliers to be contracted as part of a framework agreement to support e-voting pilots over the next three years. A list of contracted suppliers will be placed in the Library of the House and on the Office's website. Local authorities conducting e-voting pilots will need to match up with suppliers on this framework agreement as soon as it is made public.

This year's local elections will be the largest test of the Government's e-voting plans yet, confirming the UK's position as one of the pioneers of e-voting in Europe. The 18 local authorities that will trial the new technologies produced proposals that demonstrated they are ready, willing, and able to offer their electors the opportunity to trial 21st century voting techniques.

We are building on the positive response to the relatively small-scale trials held by nine authorities last year, which demonstrated the huge potential that e-voting has for giving people wider opportunities to vote. This year's pilots which are being conducted on a much larger scale, will help us to gain a better knowledge and experience of e-voting with a much larger number of people.

The pilots are an important step towards our aim of holding an e-enabled general election sometime after 2006. These innovations will help to make elections more relevant, straightforward and accessible for voters.

Electoral Pilot Applications Accepted Today
Name of Authority Channels to he Piloted
Basingstoke & Deane Borough E-voting at polling stations & e-
Council counting
Chester City Council E-voting at polling stations
Chorley Borough Council Touch-tone telephone. Internet &
e-counting (combined with all-
postal ballot)
Copeland Borough Council All-postal ballot
East Northamptonshire Council Postal ballot paper innovations
Epping Forest District Council E-voting at polling stations & e-
counting
Ipswich Borough Council Digital TV, SMS text messaging,
touch-tone telephone & Internet
Kerrier District Council Digital TV, touch-tone telephone,
Internet, e-voting at polling
Malvern Hills District Council Internet
Norwich City Council SMS text messaging, touch-tone
Rushmoor Borough Council Internet
Sheffield City Council SMS text messaging, touch-tone
telephone, Internet, e-voting at
polling stations & at sheffield
public Data kiosks
Name of Authority Channels to he Piloted
Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Digital TV, touch-tone telephone,
Council Internet, e-voting at polling
stations & e-counting (combined
with all-postal ballot)
South Somerset District Council Digital TV, touch-tone telephone
& Internet (combined with all-
postal ballot)
South Tyneside Metropolitan SMS text messaging, touch-tone
Borough Council telephone & Internet (combined
with all-postal ballot)
St Albans City & District Council Touch-tone telephone, Internet, e-
voting at polling stations & e-
counting
Stratford-on-Avon District Internet & e-voting at polling
Council stations
Stroud District Council Touch-tone telephone & Internet
Swindon Borough Council Digital TV, touch-tone telephone
& Internet
Vale Royal Borough Council Touch-tone telephone, Internet &
e-counting