Electoral Administration Bill

I agree with the spirit of these amendments. We hope we have been clear that we intend each pilot to cover an entire local authority. The only exception we have suggested is where parliamentary constituency boundaries make it sensible to take a small part of an authority so that different parts of a constituency are not asked to vote by different methods, which I am sure fits with what the noble Lord seeks. Local authority level pilots in a variety of different areas will give us the evidence base we are looking for on which government and Parliament can make a decision on national roll-out. We agree that smaller pilots would be of potentially less value. As I say, we envisage piloting at a smaller than local authority level only if that is necessary to avoid confusion at a parliamentary election or by-election. The noble Lord and I are in exactly the same place. I hope that reassures him and that he feels able to withdraw the amendment.