Postponement of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2009

I am grateful for the general welcome given to the order, and to the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, for his support. He and the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, mentioned that we will have 11 councils, not seven. Clearly, seven was the preferred number when these matters were debated in the House of Lords. However, the Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for review policy, and the Executive determined the number of councils. That is devolution in practice, something that we warmly welcome. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, asked if the Government would come back to Parliament to report progress on these matters. As I stated in my introductory remarks, we intend to have elections in May 2011. Should that not be possible for whatever reason, although we hope that it will, we will of course come back to Parliament in good time to ensure that it is informed of any problems with this. However, the order categorically states that the next local elections in Northern Ireland will be held in 2011. The noble Lord, Lord Kilcooney, asked about the use of the words ““postponement”” and ““suspension””. It is absolutely clear that this is not a suspension, it is a postponement. I am pleased to put that on the record. The noble Baroness, Lady Harris, expressed concern—as all Members of the Committee rightly have—about the fact that we are postponing these elections, but we are not taking this matter lightly. It is best for the people for Northern Ireland. She also asked about boundaries. The Local Government Boundaries Commissioner is currently drawing up the boundaries for the 11 new local government districts, and aims to complete that work by June 2009. The District Electoral Areas Commissioner will then be tasked with grouping electoral wards for the purpose of PR-STV elections. This will be followed by legislation to create the new boundaries for which local government boundaries will be passed by the Assembly and for which district electoral areas will be passed by Westminster. There is potential for these timescales to change. We are therefore putting 2011, but not stipulating May. We will come back to this issue as and when it is necessary. The noble Lord, Lord Browne, mentioned that he hoped that this process will fit comfortably into the current review. Naturally, the Government also hope so. The noble Lord, Lord Bew, asked about co-options. There are currently no plans to amend the method for filling vacancies—that is, co-options. The current co-options system has operated effectively for many years, and provides for by-elections to be avoided in a way that reflects and maintains the local emphasis that is important for district councils. Having said that, however, I accept that this is not an ideal situation and I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bew, for so graphically illustrating why that is so. It is a consequence of the postponement more generally, and it is widely accepted in Northern Ireland as being an acceptable but justifiable move in the circumstances. In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Lyell, all Northern Ireland departments have been consulted on any consequential amendments. They will continue to be consulted, but it is now a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. If there is anything more that I could or should have said, I shall write to him. In respect of tigers, although I have never heard of them in Northern Ireland, it is a delight to know that they have indigenous tigers and other exotic animals. I look forward to hearing more about such things during my visits to the Province.