Report on activities 2002/03

The corporate plan set a demanding programme of work for 2002/03. In addition to the workload associated with meeting our statutory tasks we have undertaken an active consultation role with our stakeholders and pursued a series of studies that constitute a comprehensive review of the UK electoral system.

We continue to make good progress against the targets set out in the corporate plan for this year, although resource and other pressures have resulted in slippage of some of the delivery dates. Among the key areas of activity have been:

• Development of an effective role in monitoring compliance with the new regulatory framework

• Development and implementation an annual accounting framework to be adopted by political parties and their accounting units

• Issue of a good practice guide to electoral administrators in England

• Evaluation of the electoral pilots at the May 2002 local elections

• Publication of research reports on voter attitudes

• Running of major awareness campaigns linked to the May elections and autumn electoral canvass exercise

• Launch of a 'New Initiatives Fund' to encourage innovative ideas on voter engagement

• Establishment of a referendums planning team

• Setting up of the Boundary Committee to take over the functions of the Local Government Commission for England (LGCE)

• Taking over of the order making functions of the Secretary of State in implementing Boundary Committee recommendations

• Relocation of former LGCE staff to Trevelyan House

• Internal audit reviews to strengthen corporate governance

• Development of the role of offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast

Other work in the pipeline includes publication of a comprehensive report on party and candidate spending during the 2001 general election, the implementation of a training strategy for electoral administrators and the development of a guide for candidates.

Future demands

As perhaps was to be expected, the demands on the Commission have grown and will continue to do so as we become more established as an organisation. Increasingly we are looked to as an authoritative body able to provide independent and objective advice and guidance on a range of electoral issues. Clearly, we need to guard against spreading ourselves too thinly by accepting too many new tasks, but in some cases, such as requests from the Secretary of State under s6 of the PPERA, we are required to comply.

In addition to our existing programme of work we are likely to face the following additional tasks next year:

• Monitoring of the expenses of and donations to candidates at relevant elections

• Reporting on the administration of the devolved legislature elections

• Reviewing the first statement of accounts submitted by parties and accounting units

• Reviewing the Policy Development Grant scheme

• Evaluating an expected increase in the number and complexity of electoral pilots

• Developing and implementing training plans for electoral administrators, especially for the 2004 European Parliament elections

• Reviewing electoral cycles

• Conducting local government reviews, subject to Parliamentary agreement to a Bill on regional government

• Publishing the results of policy reviews and working with government on any implications for legislation

Planning will continue on how the Commission can best handle its additional work and the extent to which through re­ordering priorities it can be absorbed within existing resources. But it is fair to say that the Commission is already operating at full capacity with a demanding and necessary work programme. We shall be reviewing our budget needs for 2003/04 and beyond and will need to take these developments into account in presenting our estimates to the February meeting of the Committee.

Sam Younger

October 2002