Political Parties and Elections Bill

My Lords, I will speak also to government Amendment 123 and it will be useful for me to speak in anticipation of Amendment 27. Section 13 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 sets out the Electoral Commission’s function to educate people about electoral and democratic systems, systems of local and national government, and institutions of the European Union. Government Amendment 26 would restrict the Electoral Commission's public awareness role by removing the commission's duty in relation to current systems of local and national government in the United Kingdom and the European Union. The commission's duty to educate people about current electoral systems in the United Kingdom under Section 13(1)(a) is not affected by the amendment. The purpose of the amendment is to clarify that the commission's function under Section 13 is to promote public awareness of current or pending electoral systems in the United Kingdom and any matters which it considers are connected to these systems. I should emphasise that the wording of Section 13(1)(a)— ""matters connected with any such existing or pending systems"—" will still allow the commission to provide information about systems of local and national government and the European Union, but only in so far as it is needed in the context of the commission carrying out its function of educating people about current and pending electoral systems. So, for example, to help promote understanding about existing and pending electoral systems, the commission will be able to provide information about how Parliament, or the EU or local government, actually works. In practice, the commission's function will be, as it is now, to provide information on the mechanics of the electoral process, including electoral registration procedures, how to vote and explaining any changes to the electoral system and connected matters. We believe that it is appropriate that the commission focus on this area of its expertise. The amendment is in response to amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, in Grand Committee, which sought to restrict the commission's duty in Section 13 along these lines. At the time, we were concerned that the noble Lord’s amendment would prevent the commission commenting about systems of local and national government or the institutions of the European Union, which is important in the context of educating people about electoral systems. However, we are now satisfied that the scope of Section 13(1)(a) will enable the commission effectively to discharge its duty to educate about existing and pending electoral systems. The commission has similarly confirmed that it is not concerned by the amendment. Government Amendment 123 makes the necessary consequential repeals to Section 13 by deleting references to systems of local and national government throughout the section. These amendments are in line with our acceptance of the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s recommendation that the commission should retain a statutory duty to educate people on the mechanics of the electoral process but should no longer have a wider statutory duty to encourage participation in the democratic process. That is not to say that the wider democratic engagement is not important. It is vital to a healthy democratic system that people who are eligible to vote are encouraged to do so and participate. The Government are in the process of taking provisions through Parliament that will place local authorities under a duty to promote democracy. The duties to promote democracy are set out in Clauses 1 to 9 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill which has recently passed from this House to another place. These provisions are intended to work alongside the duty of local electoral officers to encourage participation which is set out in the Electoral Administration Act 2006. I hope that noble Lords will be assured that in limiting the commission’s powers to exclude a wider democratic engagement role, these important functions will be carried out by local authorities. Amendment 27 seeks to require the Secretary of State to provide a written response to reports issued by the Electoral Commission under Section 6 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 within six months of publication. In Committee we agreed to consider an identical amendment tabled by the noble Lord. There was significant support for the amendment among the Committee Members and from the commission itself. We have given it careful consideration. I fully appreciate the concerns behind the amendment, which are that the Electoral Commission reports are important and should be given timely consideration. An early response ensures that the commission’s recommendations are appropriately addressed and taken account of. It is right and appropriate that the Government should aim to respond promptly to the commission’s report on issues under Section 6. There is no doubt the Electoral Commission has built up considerable expert knowledge in these areas. Therefore, I am willing to make a commitment that the Government will endeavour to respond to the Electoral Commission’s report issued under Section 6 within six months. Where we are not in a position to do so, we will provide the commission with reasons why that is the case within the six month timeframe. I hope the noble Lord will be satisfied with such a commitment which, while having the same effect as his amendment seeks, is unlikely to have the potential adverse consequence that placing a requirement in statute might have. As the noble Lord pointed out during Grand Committee debates on the issue, there are other examples where the Government have made a commitment to respond to certain reports within a specific timescale, but without a statutory requirement to do so. For example, the Government seek to respond to Select Committee reports within two months of publication. This requirement is a convention and is not statutory. Our commitment would provide a clear expectation that the Government would respond to reports within six months, in effect achieving the noble Lord’s objective. The Electoral Commission has indicated in discussions with officials that its key interest is in ensuring a timely response to these reports and it is not especially wedded to doing so via a statutory commitment. On that basis I hope the noble Lord will agree not to press his amendment. I beg to move the government amendment.