Covid: Local elections to go ahead in England and Wales

Local elections in England and Wales will go ahead as planned in May, government sources say.

Doubts had been raised about whether it was possible to hold the ballots during the pandemic, but council, mayoral, and police and crime commissioner elections will take place.

There will be some safety measures, with voters asked to bring their own pen or pencil to mark their ballots.

In all, £70m will be made available to make polling stations Covid-secure.

Masks will be compulsory in polling stations and there will be divider screens and sanitiser.

Government in Scotland and Wales will decide whether to hold polls for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.

Ministers had previously said the local elections for England and Wales, scheduled for 6 May, were under review amid uncertainty about lockdown restrictions.

Some in local government responsible for administering them have been calling for a delay because of concerns about cost and social distancing.

Questions have been raised about whether enough suitable venues can be booked at a time when many are being used as vaccine centres.

There are worries too about whether enough staff will be found to ensure elections can proceed smoothly.

Some local and mayoral elections had been due to take place in 2020 but were postponed due to the pandemic.

The cabinet office minister, Chloe Smith, told MPs in January that the bar for delaying them again was "quite high" and that elections were the "cornerstone of democracy".

But Councillor John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk Council and chairman of the District Councils Network said there was more to an election than placing an 'X' in the box, calling for a delay until early summer or autumn.

"Elections should be informed and opportunities for candidates to meet the electorate," he said.

"With so many elections, and candidates in a series of local and regional races, effectively subcontracting the campaign to Twitter or Facebook isn't the sort of election that anyone should welcome."

The Liberal Democrats too have expressed concern that restrictions on doorstep campaigning, including door-to-door leafleting, disadvantage smaller parties who rely on activists to get their vote out.

Ministers are expected to published a "detailed plan" to help local authorities, parties and candidates and to make £70m in additional funding available to make the process Covid-secure.