THE chief executive of BCP Council is set to appear before a House of Lords committee this week.

Graham Farrant will be responding to questions from the committee while a short inquiry is carried out into the impact of the introduction of voter ID.

It will look to find out any lessons that can be learned ahead of the next local elections in May 2024 and the forthcoming general election.

Mr Farrant will appear at 10.15am on Wednesday, November 15.

He has previously given evidence to the Levelling Up, Homes and Communities Select Committee on the same issue, and was present at full council where a motion was discussed on the topic.

Proposed by Cllr Peter Cooper and seconded by Cllr Patrick Canavan, the motion set out concerns over the introduction of voter ID.

It said the introduction of this legislation is ‘having a negative impact on our democracy by disenfranchising particular sections of our society’.

The motion proposed to raise these concerns with the Local Government Association, local MPs and government ‘as a matter of urgency’, to remove the ‘unnecessary requirement’.

Cllr Kieron Wilson, supporting the motion, said at the meeting that his dad would have been unlikely to vote in the local elections had he not been running due to the need for ID.

He added: “At no point when I was wanting to stand as a councillor was I asked to produce ID, so it was actually easier for me to stand as a councillor than it is for me to vote, and that seems wrong.”

Cllr Judes Butt also supported the motion, suggesting that the law was ‘badly thought out, put through with rude haste and told nobody’.

Cllr Phil Broadhead opposed the motion but said that the system ‘can and should improve’.

The motion was voted through by councillors.