Postponement of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2009

I thank the noble Baroness for her introduction of this order. I should like to make a few comments. First, it is a blow to local democracy in Northern Ireland to suspend the local elections. It was introduced by the Clerk as a suspension, yet the order refers to the ““Postponement””. There is a difference between the words ““postponement”” and ““suspension””. Postponement implies a fixed date when there will be local elections; suspension could mean that there will not be any elections for a long time. It needs to be clarified whether this is a postponement or a suspension, as both words have been used so far in this discussion. Secondly, local government in Northern Ireland no longer reflects political opinion in Northern Ireland. How many years is it since the previous elections? What will be the period between the previous local elections and 2011, if they even take place in 2011? It will be a considerable period. By then, the existing members of local government will be quite elderly. This is a denial of the younger people in Northern Ireland to have a voice in local government for quite a period of time, and that is damaging. It is also true that political opinion in Northern Ireland has shifted considerably since the previous local elections. If we had a local election this year, as we were supposed to be having, we would have different complexions in the local government councils than we have at the moment. For those reasons, I am concerned about some of the aspects of the order. Finally, if the local elections are definitely going to take place in 2011—I think that that is what the noble Baroness requires—assuming that there is no agreement on the boundaries of the 11 new local government areas; does that mean that we will have local elections on the existing boundaries? If so, why do we not have them now?