Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:14 pm on 6 June 2016.
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
7:14,
6 June 2016
I thank the noble Lord for his response. I am grateful to him for scrutinising this instrument, which will make amendments to the electoral registration process to reduce potential confusion for members of the public and enable the cost of registration and the administrative burden on electoral registration officers to be reduced.
In response to the noble Lord’s queries, the postal vote forms have recently been redesigned by the Electoral Commission after user testing. The position of the date of birth information is further up the form as a result. User testing showed that individuals had more understanding of each question asked of them; it seemed clearer.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
