To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what powers the Electoral Commission has (a) to inspect local authorities' electoral registration departments and (b) to set targets for those departments. (108484)

The Electoral Commission has statutory powers to observe the working practices of electoral registration officers, and to seek information from them on expenditure in connection with the performance of their functions. The Commission also has powers to determine and publish performance standards for electoral registration officers in Great Britain, and to prepare and publish assessments of their performance against such standards.