Electoral Administration Bill

I will withdraw it, but not necessarily on that basis, I am afraid. There is a simple disagreement here. There is loads of legislation in which this kind of general objective is set out. It happens all the time, so I do not understand why the Government are resisting it in this case. I think that we all welcome a lot of what it is in this Bill, which is a real attempt to improve the registration process and to get it more accurate. It would simply help a great deal to be able to wave it at local electoral registration officers and say, ““Look, this is your duty. It doesn’t matter if you can’t find the resources to do it next week or the week after; you have to find them sometime and get on with it””. There is an enormous amount of inertia and resistance, and a habit of carrying on doing things the way they have been done so many times in the past. As a result, the situations in different council areas with different EROs are very different. Some are brilliant and some, frankly, are not doing their job. A statement like this would help. Having said that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.