Political Parties and Elections Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords. Amendment 98 is an important amendment. It provides the Electoral Commission with a discretion to make an assessment before 2014 of whether the registration objectives would be helped or hindered by a move towards the compulsory collection of personal identifiers. In tandem, it also provides the commission with the ability to make a recommendation before that date on whether the provision of identifiers should be made compulsory. Our proposal is well known. Of course, I am aware that some noble Lords believe that we should be moving more quickly towards a system of individual registration. As I argued in Grand Committee, a phased approach is the only way to ensure that this very radical change is made effectively. We should not rush it. The specific timetable we have set out delivers on this phased approach. It has been developed with great care, with due regard to the magnitude of the change and the risks involved. What this timetable allows is, first, sufficient time for the public to acclimatise itself to the change; secondly, time for each and every one of the 400-plus electoral registration officers to adapt to the new system and to ensure that all are working to the level of the best; thirdly, time to investigate and test which public sector databases will be of most assistance to registration officers in targeting people not included on the register; and, finally, time to design the infrastructure for the validation of national insurance numbers, which will underpin the new system. Importantly, the proposed timetable will also allow us to minimise disruption to elections by avoiding, so far as is possible, national and sub-national elections, such as the 2014 elections to the European Parliament. In developing that timetable, we have paid careful attention to the Northern Ireland experience when implementing individual registration. That is an important point in my argument. The registration rate fell significantly in Northern Ireland when individual registration was introduced. There is an ongoing debate about why that happened, and at least some of the decrease in the numbers registered in Northern Ireland in 2002 was due to the removal of the carry-forward, but the Electoral Commission’s analysis tells us that the impact of that change was keenly felt among particular groups. It states that individual registration, ""tended to have an adverse impact on disadvantaged, marginalised and hard-to-reach groups. Young people and students, people with learning disabilities and other forms of disability, and those living in areas of high social deprivation were less likely to be registered and encountered specific problems with the new registration process"." It goes on: ""While these findings relate directly to Northern Ireland, they are not unique and reflect the wider picture across the UK. They present a major challenge to all those concerned with widening participation in electoral and democratic processes"." That comment is important. We all agree that making the shift towards individual registration is right but, in doing so, we have to ensure that we do not disfranchise large numbers of people who may find the new system more onerous. That becomes especially important when you consider that already an estimated 3 million individuals are not registered to vote. We must do all we can to ensure that that figure does not increase. By taking time to prepare both the system and the public for the change, to analyse registration performance and to develop a better understanding of the issues impacting on registration rates, we mitigate the risk of that outcome. Now more than ever, we need to ensure that we do not take steps that risk discouraging individuals from engaging in our democracy. A more effective and secure registration system is more likely to be achieved by building in time, to ensure to that the factors that I have mentioned can be fully taken into account in a realistic timeframe. That is what our proposal is designed to achieve. The work that I have described would be vital to the success or otherwise of the shift to compulsory individual registration. The Electoral Commission’s reports will provide invaluable evidence about registration rates, the performance of EROs and the operation of the system, which will inform our understanding of its preparedness for the change. Without that information, we cannot have a full understanding of whether the system is ready for the shift. We must protect the space for the Electoral Commission to undertake proper and robust analysis during the voluntary phase. It is only on the basis of that evidence that we can be confident that the system can withstand the change. If the idea is that a pre-2014 recommendation should be permissible and brought before Parliament if made in favour of individual registration, we would resist that. Furthermore, the existing proposed timetable is a fair balance between the role of the Electoral Commission and that of Parliament. It is right that Parliament should set the agenda for moving towards a compulsory phase, taking into account the recommendations of the commission. A decision as historic as this should be made only after a thorough and informed parliamentary debate. The purpose of a phased approach to implementation is to ensure that we take the necessary time to bolster, adapt and improve the current system for registration, in readiness for the major shift in process. Any attempts to introduce individual registration at a faster rate might risk damaging the integrity of the system and, worse still, the public’s confidence in it. If that were to happen in the run-up to a general election, the consequences could be dire. That is the Government’s argument as to why the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, should not be moved. Amendment 89 agreed.