asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to issue guidance to returning officers for national and local elections about (i) the provision of training for polling clerks and (ii) monitoring compliance by polling clerks with electoral regulations.

The training of polling clerks and any monitoring of their compliance with the law governing the conduct of parliamentary and local government elections is the responsibility of the returning officers concerned. If my hon. Friend has a particular incident in mind, I should be glad to have the details so we can consider whether any guidance should be issued to returning officers.