1. The principal purpose of this report is to place in the public domain the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for 2004-05 under paragraph 16(1) of Schedule 1 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) on his examination into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the Commission has used its resources. The Committee has a statutory obligation[1] to have regard to the most recent such report when considering the Electoral Commission's proposed Estimates and Corporate Plan. The report is reproduced at Appendix 1.

2. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report focuses on expenditure by the Commission on public awareness. The Electoral Commission has a statutory duty under section 13 of PPERA to promote public awareness of electoral and democratic systems. Resources used in pursuance of this duty are subject to a statutory annual limit set by the Secretary of State, currently £7.5million[2], and amounted to £6.6million in 2004-05 and £7.1million in 2005-06.[3] This is a significant sum in its own right and, for 2005-06, represents nearly a third of the Commission's net resource outturn for the year.

3. We are grateful to the Comptroller and Auditor General for his thorough report. He first reviewed this area of the Commission's expenditure in his report for 2002-03,[4] and has returned to it, two years later, at our request. He has examined progress made in implementing the recommendations made in his earlier report. We are pleased to note in particular the improvements made to date in the financial control arrangements, and look forward to further progress on this front when the Commission's new financial reporting system has been installed.

4. As the Comptroller and Auditor General points out the Electoral Commission is the only body in the United Kingdom to have a statutory duty to promote public awareness of the democratic process.[5] In paragraph 2.49 of his report, the Comptroller and Auditor General comments:

"We found that the Electoral Commission has a good reputation as an independent body with a statutory duty to promote public awareness. In particular, the Electoral Commission is seen to be the organisation best placed to promote public awareness because it has funds specifically for this purpose and is likely, due to its independent status, to be trusted by the general public. This puts the Commission in an ideal position to provide impartial information to the electorate without the risk of being thought to have a hidden agenda".

He concludes that:[6]

"the Commission has used its resources in raising public awareness in general effectively when judged by measures such as recall rates and other industry measures for its advertising. There does too, seem to have been an overall positive effect on voter registration".

5. However, the Comptroller and Auditor General goes on to comment that the Electoral Commission:

"could do more … to pull together the various strands of its work with disaffected groups to ensure that there is no overlap or duplication. Given the Commission's size and the fact that it is not the owner of any of the electoral processes, it should build on and expand its influence on potential voters in hard to reach groups indirectly through partners".

He also comments more widely that:

"as there is no one lead body responsible for promoting public awareness of democratic processes, either within government or across the wider public sector, there is an ongoing risk to value for money through duplication, omission or uncoordinated activity".

6. The Report makes five specific recommendations and we shall be seeking the Electoral Commission's response to these. We shall also be encouraging the Commission to give careful consideration, together with other stakeholders, as to how the more general risk to value for money identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General arising from duplication, omission, or uncoordinated activity in this important area might be minimised.

7. The Committee is also taking this opportunity to publish the minutes of its meetings on 13 December 2005, and 25 January, 29 March and 3 May 2006. These are reproduced at Appendix 2.

2   The Electoral Commission (Limit on Public Awareness Expenditure) Order 2002. Back

3   Source: Electoral Commission Accounts for 2005-06, Note 7. Back

4   See the Speaker's Committee First Report 2004 (HC 924 (2003-04), Appendix 1. Back

5   Para 2.41. He also notes that government departments and public sector organisations have taken on some responsibilities in this area. Back

6   Para 1.7. Back