VOTING RIGHTS IN THE UK

It is expected that British living abroad will be able to reregister to vote from January 2024. In 2015, the Conservative government pledged to allow these rights to be returned to those who have been living abroad for over 15 years. The change was passed in the Elections Act in April of last year, but secondary legislation was required. This should therefore come in time for the next expected general election in the UK in 2024. It is also expected that elements of overseas voting will be made simpler, with many voters experiencing delays with postal votes and other administrational obstacles. It is also reported that British will no longer need to reregister every 12 months, this will be extended to 3 years. For further information and updates on your voting rights, please visit the British in Europe website: www.britishineurope.org

At-risk people have up to the 16th of June to get the latest Covid vaccine booster. This includes people who are over 80, are immunocomprised, live in a care home, or are at risk of suffering serious forms of the virus. Health authoriries advise these people receive a booster jab in the spring and again in the autumn, with a minimum of 6 months between the two doses.

New Scam Reporting App

With 75% of French residents owning a smartphone, the government has launched a new app to report scams and fraudsters. For the last few years the website Signal Conso has been the platform to report cases (half a million cases have been reported so far) but with so many people relying on their smartphones these days, an app allows instant accessibility to report issues. You can also use the app to report issues concerning food poisoning at a restaurant, healthcare professionals, poor services (including childcare, cleaning, hairdressing etc), vehicle servicing, poor quality renovation or construction work, and banking issues. The DGCCRF (Direction générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des fraudes) will then investigate each claim, potentially contacting the business in question if deemed necessary and of merit. The application, which offers the same features as the website signal.conso.gouv.fr, is available at the App Store and Play Store, search for ‘SignalConso’. The app is free, and is also be available in English.