Capacity and capability problems blamed for election woes in Plymouth

A long-standing issue of insufficient capacity and capability in the core registration and election service at Plymouth City Council was one of the key reasons for problems with the 2017 General Election, an independent report has concluded.

The report by Dr Dave Smith, former chief executive of Sunderland City Council, said this had been exacerbated by the retirement of a longstanding Electoral Services manager. The recruitment process for a replacement was not complete when the snap election was called in April 2017.

“As a result the registration and electoral system and process lacked integrity, robustness and adequate quality control and assurance,” the report said.

Dr Smith was called in after problems emerged with the sending out of postal vote packs to people who had applied for them.

The council had already apologised for the omission of 6,587 votes in the Efford and Lipson ward from the declaration of the count for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

Other problems identified during the election process included:

• 35,000 postal vote electors received two polling cards – one for their postal vote and one for the polling station. “This had no impact on voting but it did cause confusion.”
• 331 electors who received poll cards issued on 5 May were later removed from the register through the rolling programme of reviewing the register. 38 of these people turned up at a polling station on polling day and were reinstated on the register. This was not escalated to the Acting Returning Officer and the decision was made without their authorisation.
• While 41,062 registered postal voters received their packs as normal, 1,926 registered postal voters did not receive their packs through the normal batch issues. Of these, 1,839 were issued with a replacement postal vote pack, leaving 87 where delivery was not possible.

In addition to the problems with capacity and capability, Dr Smith said the issues included:

• There was insufficient progress in implementing the re-engineering of the business processes to streamline demands on the core team to those needing specialist input, allowing others in the council to deal with other non-specialist tasks.
• The Acting Returning Officer provided strong strategic leadership in the registration and election requirements “but there was a wide gap between strategic planning and operational realities”.
• In trying to rectify the postal vote pack distribution problem “it is difficult to see how the council could have been more effective given the constraints placed upon in, particularly that of time.”
• Despite attempts to take a proactive approach to communication with all stakeholders once the size and nature of the problem was recognised, communications were not as effective as they needed to be.
• The total number of electors who were unable to vote was estimated to be between 150 and 200 out of the 217,186 who were registered to vote in the three Plymouth constituencies, “though many more were inconvenienced, concerned or upset by the issues identified”.

Dr Smith will present his report to the meeting of the full council on 25 September.

His recommendations include that the local authority acts swiftly to permanently recruit enough suitably experienced electoral registration staff to ensure the team is up to recommended staffing levels.

In the meantime it should ensure there are enough interim staff with sufficient operational experience to manage the team, build capacity and ensure focus.

Dr Smith also recommended that Plymouth make sure sufficient resources and properly documented systems, procedures and processes are put in place to ensure a successful election canvass, prepare for local elections in 2018 and plan for a General Election.

The council should develop a more detailed communications plan with key stakeholders to ensure effective election communications “especially when unusual situations arise”, he added.

Other recommendations included building on the best practice of the existing Elections Board by increasing oversight through a cross-party committee and regular meetings with the Electoral Commission, and carrying out an independent review in January 2018 to ensure the council is suitably prepared for elections in May 2018.

Dr Smith said: “In my view the Acting Returning Officer acted appropriately and effectively throughout the General Election. The key issues are: the council’s longstanding challenge with recruiting the right staff to its core electoral and registration team; not being quick enough to improve its business processes and needing to build better links between strategic and operational planning. However the council’s decision to maximise the number of people who could vote by any means possible was the right one.”

The council's Acting Returning Officer (ARO) and Chief Executive, Tracey Lee, said: “I would like to apologise once more for the inconvenience we have caused to voters and for the fact that a number of people were disenfranchised at the General Election.

“We accept fully Dr Smith’s conclusions and have already started the work to make our Electoral Service fit for purpose. We still have work to do but we are committed to getting this right. We will be asking the Electoral Commission, other councils and a further independent review to check that what we have done meets the high standards that Plymouth voters rightly expect.”

The council has produced a report which will be delivered alongside Dr Smith’s report. This additional report sets out the action Plymouth is taking in light of his findings, including the establishment of a dedicated project team to ensure the various recommendations are implemented.

Plymouth added that all roles within the Electoral Service had been reviewed, recruitment for a Head of Elections had started and interim specialist support had been recruited. A new electoral registration computer system had been installed, tested and staff trained, it said.

An independent review has been set for January 2018 to provide assurance on preparations for the May 2018 local elections and the council said it would actively seek independent peer review during the year.

Adrian Green from the Electoral Commission said: “Following the problems encountered in the administration of the UK parliamentary general election in Plymouth in June, the Commission fully supported an independent investigation into the issues. We welcome Dr Dave Smith’s review and look forward to supporting Plymouth City Council to deliver the further improvements now required. We will be publishing a report on the administration of the May and June polls later this year.”

Council Leader Ian Bowyer said: “It’s important for all councillors that both they and our voters have complete confidence in the caouncil’s Electoral Service. I am totally committed to ensuring that this happens.”