Appendix: Government response
Letter from Sam Gyimah MP, Minister for the Constitution,
Cabinet Office to the Chair of the Political and Constitutional
Reform Committee
I am writing on behalf of the Government to respond
to your interim report. Thank you to you and your Committee for
its thorough work.
The Government agrees with the Committee that improving
voter engagement is vital to the long term well-being of democracy
in the UK and welcomes this report. At the same time the Government
notes that this is response to an interim report for public consideration
and looks forward to the publication of the final report on National
Voter Registration Day on 5 February. Whatever the Committee's
final report recommends, it will certainly stimulate the debates
on this issue that will take place ahead of the General Election
in May.
Hopefully this response, along with others, will
help the Committee shape its final recommendations, particularly
by highlighting work that is already under way to encourage participation
in the democratic process, both through education and practical
changes, such as being able to register to vote on-line in three
minutes. The references to paragraphs in this response relate
to paragraph numbers in the report's interim conclusions and recommendations.
28 January 2015
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