National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) Order 2016
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
That the Grand Committee do consider the draft National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) Order 2016.
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)
My Lords, the instruments that we are considering make changes to the rules for the administration and conduct of elections to the National Assembly for Wales and of police and crime commissioners. In particular, they make provision for the combination of polls at Welsh Assembly and PCC elections when they are held on the same day. They also apply, for the purposes of Welsh Assembly elections, provisions in the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 and associated secondary legislation, which made a number of changes to the rules for UK parliamentary elections.
Noble Lords may be familiar with these measures, which have been considered in earlier debates on instruments which applied the measures for the conduct of other elections and referendums. Indeed, I should explain that these changes have already been made for PCC elections in a previous instrument that the Committee has considered. The background to the instruments is that we have consulted on them with the Electoral Commission and with others such as the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Welsh Government.
I turn first to the Welsh Assembly order. The Assembly order requires a poll at an Assembly election to be combined with a poll at a PCC election when both polls are held on the same day, as will happen on 5 May 2016. I should explain what is meant by a combination of polls. Where more than one poll is held on the same day, it is common for electoral law to provide for the polls to be combined and for rules to be drawn up that set out how they will be administered. Such rules are designed to ensure that the polls are run effectively and seek to minimise any risks of confusion to the electorate.
The Assembly order therefore designates the constituency returning officer at the Assembly election as the lead returning officer when an ordinary Assembly election is combined with an ordinary PCC election, and ensures that voters will cast their vote at the same polling station for both the polls, and that a different coloured ballot paper is used for each poll. Returning officers will be able to issue a single poll card to electors for all the polls, and may issue to postal voters one postal voter ballot pack with two different sets of voting papers inside, instead of separate packs for each election.
The order also updates the forms used by voters, such as poll cards and postal voting statements, to make the voting process more accessible. The revised material has been produced following a programme of public user testing and consultation with the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators and Scope, and discussions with electoral services suppliers. I confirm that the order includes Welsh language versions of the forms.
I highlight that the order provides for the names of candidates to appear on the ballot paper for the election of regional members. This is an important change, designed to ensure that voters are aware of the candidates standing at the election.
The order also provides for police community support officers to enter polling stations and counting venues under the same conditions as police constables. This will allow police forces additional flexibility in deploying their resources on polling day, and allow them to provide a greater visible reassurance to the public.
The order additionally provides that voters waiting in a queue at the close of poll—that is, 10 pm on polling day—for the purpose of voting may be issued with ballot papers to enable them to vote, or may return postal voting statements or postal ballot papers despite the close of poll.
The order also applies to Welsh Assembly elections measures relating to postal voting that have already been made in respect of other elections. First, the order requires that 100% of postal voting statements are checked against voter records for security purposes.
Secondly, the order enables postal votes to be issued as soon as practicable at a poll. This is to facilitate the earlier dispatch of postal votes and to give administrators the flexibility to dispatch postal votes earlier than the 11th day before the poll, which is the earliest that postal votes may be issued to many postal voters at present. This will be of particular help to people in more remote locations, including service voters, as it will give them more time to receive, complete and return their postal vote in time for it to be counted. To facilitate this, the order moves the deadline for candidates to withdraw their nomination from Assembly elections from noon on the 16th working day before the poll to 4pm on the 19th working day before the poll, and the deadline for the publication of persons nominated becomes no later than 4pm on the 18th day before the day of the election.
Thirdly, electoral registration officers will be required to inform electors after an Assembly election where their postal vote has been rejected because the signature or date of birth, which are used as postal vote identifiers, that they have supplied on the postal voting statement failed to match those held on record, or where they had simply been left blank. This is to help ensure that those electors can participate effectively in future polls and not have their ballot papers rejected at successive polls because of a signature degradation or inadvertent errors. This will help legitimate voters who submit their postal ballot packs in good faith to avoid their vote being rejected at successive polls.
In response to a recommendation from the Electoral Commission, the order increases the spending limits for candidates at Assembly elections to take into account the effects of inflation. This means that the maximum amount that a candidate standing in an Assembly constituency may spend is increased from £7,150 to £8,700, together with an additional 9p, up from 7p, for every elector in a county constituency, and an additional 6p, up from 5p, for every elector in a borough constituency.
The instrument also provides for the fee of a returning officer at an Assembly election to be reduced, following a recommendation by the Electoral Commission, in the event of inadequate performance at an election. This mirrors an equivalent provision made for UK parliamentary elections by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013.
The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2016 corrects errors that appear in the Welsh language sections of some of the forms set out in the National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) (Amendment) Order 2016. It is right that we have brought forward this further order to ensure that the forms used at the upcoming polls are correct.
Turning to the order concerning the conduct of PCC elections, as I have noted, the Welsh Assembly order requires ordinary Welsh Assembly and PCC polls to be combined when they are held on the same day. The PCC order complements the Assembly order by making equivalent provision, in relation to the rules for the conduct of PCC elections, for the combination of PCC and Assembly elections when they are held on the same day. The instrument also provides that when PCC and Assembly elections are combined, the voting areas for the purposes of the PCC election in Wales are Assembly constituencies, instead of local authority areas. This will ensure that both polls are administered on the ground using the same voting area—that is, Assembly constituencies—and by a single returning officer. The returning officer for a voting area will be the local returning officer for the PCC poll who is the constituency returning officer for the Assembly constituency.
The Electoral Commission and electoral administrators in Wales specifically requested that we align the voting areas in this way, which will assist in the effective running of the combined polls. The Electoral Commission has commented that this change reflects the view of the commission and of returning officers in Wales and avoids a potential risk to the effective administration of the election.
Noble Lords will be pleased to hear, in summary—they must have felt that I was going to be here all night—that I believe that the changes in the instruments concerning the conduct and administration of Welsh Assembly and PCC polls will help to increase voter participation and support the integrity of our electoral system, helping to ensure that the polls scheduled for May 2016 are run effectively. I beg to move.
Lord Wigley (PC)
My Lords, I apologise for missing the first two minutes, as I was in the Chamber trying to follow another devolution debate going on in parallel. I thank the noble Baroness for bringing these before the Committee. If she has not already said this in her opening remarks, will she confirm that there is unanimous backing for this in the National Assembly? I believe that to be the case—and therefore it is welcome.
I shall resist the temptation to ask her to clarify the grammatical errors in the Welsh language form, but that underlines one point—that many matters such as these should surely be devolved to the Assembly itself to handle rather than expecting Ministers with no knowledge of the Welsh language to handle it up here. Would I be correct in saying that, if the devolution Bill that is currently under consideration is passed as intended by the Government, that would put responsibility for matters such as these into the hands of the National Assembly, and therefore there would be no need to test the Minister on her detailed knowledge of the Welsh language?
Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab)
My Lords, these three regulations are being debated together, and at the outset I should say that I have no issues with the instruments before the Grand Committee today. However, I have a few points and questions for the noble Baroness, Lady Chisholm of Owlpen, and I am sure that she will be able to answer them for me.
First, in respect of the National Assembly for Wales order, I was pleased to see the addition of Article 23A, which concerns the inadequate performance of returning officers and the making of provisions for no payments. That will hopefully focus minds, but what are the Government going to do to deal with poor performance of returning officers in general? Payments can be withheld, but that is just imposing a monetary sanction; it is not actually dealing with the problem.
On Article 13, I was pleased to see that the expenses limit for candidates has been increased, as these elections were last contested five years ago and costs have increased for all candidates. Although we are not able to do it with this order, we need to get to a position whereby these allowances are automatically uprated by inflation, which would remove the need for this cumbersome process, involving officials, the Electoral Commission and everybody else.
In a similar vein, although I know that these issues are not part of these regulations, I hope that the Committee will forgive me for putting some other issues out there. The Government need to look at the whole question of recordable and reportable donations thresholds, which have not changed for well over six years and need to be uprated. Combining the polls with the PCC elections is sensible, makes for better, well-run elections, reduces costs and is helpful to both the administration of the election and voters alike.
The other matters in the order, which include allowing PCSOs to enter polling stations and making provision for people who had their postal vote rejected due to an identifier problem to be contacted to correct the problem for future elections, are very welcome.
Paragraph 7.6 of the Explanatory Memorandum refers to the work undertaken by the Law Commission to consolidate all our election law. For me, this cannot come soon enough. Election law is needlessly complex, hard to understand and contains far too many Acts, regulations and orders. A thorough rewriting would be in everyone’s interests, whether they be candidates, officials organising the elections or, most importantly, voters.
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
I thank noble Lords for their contributions, and I will try to answer the points raised.
The noble Lord, Lord Wigley, raised the issue of devolution, and it is absolutely true that the Welsh Assembly will be responsible following the Bill, so noble Lords will not have to listen to me speaking here for at least 20 minutes on the subject. That is very important and will make a big difference.
The noble Lord also raised a point about the Welsh language. The Cabinet Office is looking into that further and is making sure that these mistakes do not happen in the future. It is getting together more people who can speak Welsh and can be in charge of this sort of thing, because it is not good for that to happen.
The noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, made a point about the performance of returning officers. Even though monetary sanctions are indeed very important—it draws people up short if they think they will not get the amount of money they thought they would—I agree with him that other important considerations should be taken into account. The Cabinet Office has organised two seminars for all returning officers at PCC elections in England and Wales to provide training and guidance for the delivery of the PCC elections in May. In fact, on a recommendation from the Electoral Commission, the Welsh Assembly SI provides that Welsh Ministers may reduce or withhold returning officers’ charges in the event of poor performance at the Welsh Assembly elections. This is a significant sanction, and we have no plans at this time to introduce further sanctions in the event of poor performance. Our focus will be on the guidance and training provided to the returning officers.
Lord Kennedy of Southwark
From my time as a commissioner, I remember that we had the situation where—I do not know whether returning officers are paid some money in advance—there was a complicated process of providing receipts and getting the money back. It seemed to go on for ever and was very cumbersome. Maybe we need to have the bills first and then pay the money out, but it seemed to go on for months. It was very inefficient. That went on between the commission and the returning officer. How this is funded and how money comes back needs to be looked at.
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
The noble Lord raises an important point. Having it that way round seems to make things more complicated, and I will certainly take that back for further discussion.
The noble Lord also raised the issue of candidates’ expenses limits. Our current policy is not to link candidates’ expenses limits to inflation so that they increase automatically in line with inflation. Of course, we have agreed to increase the limits for the Welsh Assembly elections in May following a recommendation from the Electoral Commission. As with other electoral matters, this will be the responsibility of the Assembly once the Wales Bill is passed.
The noble Lord also raised the issue of the existing thresholds for reportable donations. These have not been changed since 2010. The current thresholds apply to elections across the piece. We do not wish to make a change for a particular poll and we have no plans to change the current arrangements, although, as with other electoral matters, we will keep this under review.
We do not as a matter of course consult political parties on electoral SIs, which are often technical in nature. We keep representatives of the parliamentary parties panel informed of our work on upcoming elections at meetings held on a quarterly basis. We will draw to their attention any planned changes we think would be of particular interest to them.
Lord Wigley
Would the noble Baroness confirm that the Government do consult on this with the National Assembly? The Assembly has the facility to discuss among the parties if it so determines, even as the law stands.
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
Yes, and it does so as part of its assignment of running and reporting on polls. It refers back to the Electoral Commission on how things have gone as well.
I think that that has covered all the points raised. The noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, also mentioned that it would be good to simplify election law. We all take that view, and I shall certainly take it back. I could not agree more that the staff are incredibly efficient and good at what they do. They cannot be praised highly enough.
I commend the statutory instruments to the Committee.