Dear Sir / Madam

I am pleased to acknowledge your request for information, which has been
allocated the reference number NELC/13380/1920.

Your request has been passed to the relevant department for processing and
you can expect your response within the 20 working day limit. If it will
take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you, we will inform you
of this and provide you with the expected date for receiving a response.

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:

[1]https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council-infor....

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely,

North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Sir / Madam

Thank you for your information request reference NELC/13380/1920. I can
confirm that North East Lincolnshire Council holds the following
information.

Please note, part of your request relates to personal information and
therefore cannot be disclosed under section 40 of the Freedom of
Information Act. Section 40 (1) of the Freedom of Act provides an
exemption to the disclosure of information which is personal data.

You can contact the elections department should you have any query in
relation to your own registration.

what other circumstances would lead to deregistration of someone that been
on the register, hasn't moved or died Can you list these per year

Prior to 2014 if the annual canvass form had not been returned for two
years the law stated that two-year non-responding electors are deleted
from the electoral register. The two-year non-responding to the annual
canvass removal requirement was deleted when Individual Electoral
Registration was introduced in 2014. Electors now remain on the electoral
registration until their details change (e.g. change of name), they move
house or die.

For all wards for each year valid from 2003  up to current year 2019

Ward name

All ward names are published on the Council website:

[1]https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/councillors-a...

Total amount of residents  above 18

This information is available on the North East Lincolnshire data
observatory:

[2]http://www.nelincsdata.net/profiles/prof...

Total amount registered to vote at each election ( both local and national
and EU ) Total ammount of voter cards sent out Total ammount of postal
votes sent out Total amount of registered voters that agreed to share data
Amount of income received for selling their details Amount of voters that
turned out per vote

We have information relating to changes in registration numbers between
2001 and 2018 (see attached). The report identifies the number of postal
voters.

The percentage turnout by electors for elections is on the website:

[3]https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/councillors-a...

The Council receives about £2,500 from credit reference agencies for
purchasing electoral data each year. Fees are set in law. Usually, 4 or 5
credit reference agencies purchase the data which they are permitted to
purchase by law. The Council has never actively sold or used electoral
data to any third party.

Allegations of impropriety or regulatory

How many alligation have you dealt with since 2003s in relation to
irregularities around elections, specifically voting day

North East Lincolnshire Council holds no information prior to August 2014.
There have been no allegations since then.

from 2003 to current

A list of each building used

A list of all payments made

A list of each helper for each ward that assisted on the election day at
the places

The Council is only required to hold electoral information for one year. A
list of the polling stations used in May 2019 is attached. The invoices
for these elections have not yet been paid so no information is held
regarding payments made. Please see attached document, Stations by
Register. There were 9 Inspectors, 96 Presiding Officers and 153 Poll
Clerks employed at that election.

Questions

What would disqualify a person from being involved in the admins side of
collecting votes Do they have to provide a register of interest What is
the penalty for breaches of regulations by these people

Staff are not permitted to work on elections if they are publically
associated with a candidate or political party during the election period,
or have signed a nomination paper as a subscriber. If a complaint is
received about a member of staff, then that would be considered by
Returning Officer or one of his deputies and any action taken as
appropriate.

If you believe that your request for information has not been handled in
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, you have the right to
request an internal review by the Council. Please be clear about which
elements of the Council’s response or handling of the request you are
unhappy with, and would like the Council to address during the internal
review process.  If following this you are still dissatisfied you may
contact the Office of the Information Commissioner. If you wish to request
an internal review, please contact me and I will make the necessary
arrangements.

Yours sincerely

North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Sir / Madam 

I am pleased to acknowledge your correspondence and wish to confirm that
an Internal Review of the handling of your Information Request
NELC/13380/1920 is to take place.

The Internal Review has been passed to the relevant department for
processing and you can expect your response within the 20 working day
limit. If it will take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you,
we will inform you of this and provide you with the expected date for
receiving a response.

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:
[1]https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council-infor....

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Sir / Madam 

Further to your request an Internal Review has taken place into North East
Lincolnshire Council's handling of your information
request NELC/13380/1920, concerning elections.

I have reviewed the response provided to you and the handling of your
request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and find:

o That you were informed whether or not the information you asked for
was held by North East Lincolnshire Council;
o That you were provided with the information you asked for available
under the Freedom of Information Act;
o That you were provided with the reasons why any information you had
asked for could not be supplied to you under the Freedom of
Information Act; and
o That your response provided you with your rights of appeal. 

Please accept my apologies as I note that the response took longer than 20
working days. However, I am satisfied that the Council has otherwise acted
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act in the handling of your
request.

I will address each of your points below:

I want the qestions ansewrring fully

Having reviewed the response provided I consider that full information has
been given, as appropriate under the FOI Act, in response to your enquiry.

If your pointing to data on your site,  you point exactly to the data, not
to a part on your sitte were it ight me found if you put in the correct
details.  

Please accept my apologies if you have been unable to locate the details
required. The link provided to the ward names goes to a list of all the
ward names, there is no further clicking or searching that is needed.

The web address provided to the information regarding residents above the
age of 18 links to the North East Lincolnshire Data Observatory. From here
you can select a ward in the available areas drop down which will then
bring up a list of available data sets. One of these data sets is
‘Population by gender and age band’. You will be able to locate the
information required.

If your mentioning accounts, you point to axactly were in the accounts its
answered.

I am not sure what this is in reference to, please can you clarify.

If you rely on public interst test, you fully details them. 

We have not relied on the public interest test therefore I am unsure what
this is in reference to.

Your wrong in relation to prior complaints recived, the police wqere
involvd in one at the aprk ward,  as you know

For a complaint to be logged regarding impropriety at elections there is a
process that needs to be followed. No complaints of this nature have been
received as you were previously informed.

Your trying to hid any payments that i ask for that relate to a few groups
and individuals around here.

At the point the request was originally received this information was not
held. As some time has passed some of this information is now available
and for your convenience I have included it here. The original response
was correct in stating that the information was not held at the time.

I have also attached further information in relation to the numbers of
people registered to vote each year.

Please note that the registration of electors is governed by the
Representation of the People Act 1983 as amended. Under Section 8 of the
Act, the council must appoint an officer of the council to be the
registration officer for any constituency or part of a constituency
coterminous with or situated in the council’s area. The appointed officer
for the registration area of North East Lincolnshire is the Chief
Executive of this council. His appointment as Electoral Registration
Officer is separate to his appointment as Chief Executive and, although
appointed by the council, the Electoral Registration Officer’s
responsibilities and duties are personal. An example of this is that the
register of electors is deemed to be the property of the Electoral
Registration Officer, not the local authority.

The Electoral Registration Officer does not carry out the duties on behalf
of the local authority but in his own personal capacity. A list of public
bodies and local authorities that are subject to the provisions of the
Freedom of Information Act is available at the following website:

[1]http://www.foi.gov.uk/yourRights/publica...

As you will see, the Freedom of Information Act does not list any person
appointed under the Representation of the People Act 1983. It follows that
the Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer or any other person
appointed under the Act are not subject to the provisions of the Freedom
of Information Act.

Notwithstanding that, there is no statutory obligation to provide this
information, however in an effort to assist you we have provided most of
the information you have requested.

I trust that this Internal Review answers your queries in relation to your
request, and clarifies that your request has been handled in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act. 

If you remain dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of your request, or
the decision of the internal review you can request an independent review
by contacting the Information Commissioner's Office at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

North East Lincolnshire Council

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