Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords for generally welcoming these regulations, although one or two questions were raised. I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, that we are not amending the Bill that is passing through the House at the moment; we are making changes under existing powers in time for the May 2006 elections. The noble Lord, Lord Maclennan, also raised that point. One of the reasons why these regulations are coming forward now is that the 6 May elections are only a month or so away. The changes complement the Bill; they do not duplicate any part of it. Interestingly, when I read my speaking notes, that was the first question that I asked. I was assured that there would not be a problem in bringing forward these regulations while the Bill went through the House. The noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, rightly said that these are holding measures. He also made some important points about fraud. Part of the purpose of these measures is to reduce and contain fraud, which has perhaps been a feature not only of local government elections in Wales. We are making our very best efforts to stop such fraud. The noble Lord, Lord Maclennan, asked about publicising 7 am to 10 pm voting. We are in close contact with the electoral administrators on these changes, which the Electoral Commission will publicise so that electors are aware of the new polling hours. I hope that I have answered the questions raised. If not, we will deal with them in correspondence.