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Electoral Services Standards and Qualifications

Free and fair elections in a democratic society depend on effective and efficient electoral services covering the registration of electors and the conduct of the balloting process together, with the counting of votes cast. Electoral Services staff are the cornerstones of this process, and they are based within Local Authorities in England, Wales and Scotland and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Electoral Services staff throughout the UK are responsible for a broad range of events, including:

• UK Parliamentary election
• European Parliamentary elections
• Local council elections
• Mayor of London and London Assembly elections
• Mayoral elections
• Welsh Assembly elections
• Scottish Parliamentary elections
• Northern Ireland Assembly elections
• Referendums at local, regional and national level.

Electoral Services can be divided into two key areas – Electoral Registration and Elections Administration.

SkillsPlus UK commissioned work to develop up-to-date and forward-looking national occupational standards (NOS) for staff working in Electoral Services.  The project ran until March 31, 2007 and involved all the key stakeholders across the UK, including:

• Electoral Commission (offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI)
• Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA)
• Society of Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR)
• Scottish Assessors Association (SAA)
• Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE)
• Local authority employers in each of the ‘home nations’.

Since the development of the NOS, SkillsPlus UK and the Electoral Services key stakeholders have promoted the use of these standards, as benchmarks of good practice for individuals, to complement the ‘organisational’ standards developed by the Electoral Commission

In support of this, the AEA provides national and local courses through a network of training and development officers on a variety of election-related topics and offers a range of qualifications. The National Occupational Standards will provide a useful source of information for the review of these qualifications.

• Latest news – Electoral Services NOS Incremental Review September 2009 to March 2010
  In line with government policy to transfer sectors currently outside the Sector Skills Council network into a relevant SSC, SkillsPlus UK is working hard to facilitate such a transfer for Electoral Services. However, this means that SkillsPlus UK is no longer recognised as the Standards Setting Body, (SSB) for Electoral Services, and ceases to be eligible to hold review and development contracts for the sector.
  Therefore the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has just commissioned a consultancy called Learning Etc to undertake a short scoping exercise in relation to the NOS, working directly with the Employer’s Group, and consulting with the wider Electoral Services community. This is to clarify whether the 2007 NOS suite remains ‘fit for purpose’ or whether any aspects of the NOS suite will need updating in the near future. For further information please contact Sue Parker at Learning Etc, on sue@learning-etc.co.uk or John Turner, Chair, Electoral Services Employers’ Group on john.turmer@aea-elections.co.uk

Current versions of the Standards can be viewed at the UK Commission’s NOS Directory at www.ukces.org.uk