My Lords, I say to the noble Baroness that it is not a power to direct. The Speaker’s Committee is not a government institution; it is part of the architecture that is there, and has been there, to oversee the work of the commission. That was inherent in previous legislation; this legislation seeks to improve its ability to do so. What the legislation means is that when carrying out its functions, yes, the commission will be asked to consider the statement, but weigh it up against any other relative considerations.
The noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, knows the respect I have for him. I have enjoyed discussing this matter with him and no doubt may again if he has his way in your Lordships’ House today, which I hope he will not, but our contention is that there are a number of safeguarding provisions around parliamentary approval and consultation built into Clause 15. I outlined that at length in previous debates and will not repeat it here. I believe, notwithstanding the noble and learned Lord’s remarks, that those safeguarding provisions should reassure those who have expressed concerns about strategy and policy statements being drafted by future Governments that may have ill intent.
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The statement will set out guidance and principles. We have published an illustrative example, which is hardly the most threatening document ever published in the history of mankind. We ask that the commission have regard to that statement in the discharge of its functions. The statement will provide the commission with a clear articulation of principles and priorities,
approved by Parliament, as it is reasonable for Parliament to do, to have regard to when going about its work, particularly in areas where primary legislation is not explicit and the commission is exercising the significant discretion it is afforded in terms of activity, priorities, and approach. My noble friend Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts made some important remarks on what he described as tertiary legislative powers.
Under these proposals, Parliament will have an important role in debating and scrutinising the content of the statement, which in turn will influence how the commission exercises its discretion. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, doubted the adequacy of the provision for statutory consultation set out in Clause 15, but I do not agree that a statutory consultation process for the statement is nugatory. The provisions state that the Secretary of State must review and consider submissions from all statutory consultees before submitting a new statement for parliamentary approval. Furthermore, any new or revised statement will be subject to approval of the UK Parliament, thus ensuring that the Government consider parliamentarians’ views and that Parliament has the final say over whether any statement takes effect.
The proposed removal of Clause 16 is also put to your Lordships. It was noted in Committee that the Electoral Commission is already accountable to Parliament through the Speaker’s Committee—this again takes up the point made by the noble Baroness. However, the Speaker’s Committee’s existing remit is narrowly restricted to overseeing the commission’s finances, its five-year corporate plan, and the appointment of Electoral Commissioners. The purpose of Clause 16 is to expand this remit to enable the Speaker’s Committee to perform a scrutiny function similar to that of parliamentary Select Committees. As the noble and learned Lord acknowledged, that committee does not have an inbuilt government majority. By allowing the Speaker’s Committee to scrutinise the commission’s activities in light of its duty to have regard to the strategy and policy statement, we will give the UK Parliament the tools to effectively review the commission and hold it accountable.