Critical National Infrastructure: Ownership

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, GCHQ and a number of other government agencies are actively engaged in mitigating the large and, to some extent, unknowable risk of cyberattack. This is a growing problem for all Governments in the world. I emphasise again that the specific issue at stake in the ISC’s recent report was the dependence on foreign equipment and the computer codes which come with it. That is something which GCHQ is much engaged with and which it has now been agreed the National Security Adviser will conduct an inquiry into.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

My Lords, does the £310 billion of projects which the Minister said was in the pipeline include the extension of the Tube to south-east London, which has been waiting since the Second World War for such an extension?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I am answering for the Cabinet Office on the question of critical national infrastructure. I do my best to cover all other aspects of government when challenged, but my knowledge of Tube projects in south-east London is a little more limited than of some other subjects.

Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2012

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Monday 25th June 2012 Grand Committee

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

My Lords, I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak in this Grand Committee debate on the Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2012. I say at the outset that I agree with the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Rennard.

I advise the Committee that I am a member of the Electoral Commission, which commented on this order earlier this year and which will evaluate the pilot schemes when they come to an end. I hope that the Government are in listening mode today. It is fair to say that they did not listen very much last time, which is part of the reason why we are back here today with a second set of orders. The last set of pilots was unclear. The pilots did not have a common methodological framework, which made it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness as a data-matching tool to prove complete accuracy of the register.

As has been said, the Government decided to speed up the IER process. Let us be clear, IER is already on the statute book. It was brought in by the previous Labour Government. The Minister needs to provide the Committee with proper assurances that everything is being done to make the register more accurate and complete. These powers will assist the process and action can be taken following the process. My concern is that these proposals may well improve the accuracy of the register but that completeness will suffer, with the register being less complete. As has been said, accuracy and completeness are different things.

I ask the noble Lord to clarify a few things in his reply. Can he explain the methodology behind the pilots? Will they test the processes that will be made available to local authorities if they are rolled out nationally? Can the Minister comment on the management of the pilots, as well as on the staff and budget provisions? What are the proposals for communication between the pilots, data holders and the Cabinet Office? Perhaps I may also ask him to comment on how he sees the data-matching process being used to confirm the identity of existing electors and how he sees the confirmation process working.

I would not say that the Government have wrapped themselves in much credit on these matters so far. These are serious issues and I hope that the noble Lord will give a commitment to write to me in detail on the points I have raised today. I do not want to have to raise them again when the order reaches the Floor of the House, but I give him notice that I will do so if necessary. With that caveat, I look forward to his response.

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing the order. I guess that if I have one word of advice for him, it is, “Listen to the last two speakers”. I know that my noble friend Lord Kennedy was an agent and could get votes where no others were found. Sadly, to our detriment, the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, also had a great ability for doing that—something for which I have never quite forgiven him. However, both noble Lords have a lot of wisdom and experience behind them in these matters.

We welcome this second set of pilots. Their aim is to ensure both the accuracy and, we hope, the completeness of the register, as both the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, and my noble friend Lord Kennedy have said. I think that we all rather bemoan low turnouts in elections, but of course the true level of participation would be lower if we took into account the votes of those who would be eligible to vote if only we could catch them all. Clearly the Government have a responsibility to act to ensure that we find and register all those for whom our predecessors, particularly of my gender, fought so hard for the right to vote. Just a few days ago, we heard of the great yearning of the people of Burma for the right to vote, and that puts an onus on all of us to make sure that those who have won that right have the ability to cast their vote and to do so easily.

The order is part of the process of checking on the proposed way of building up individually compiled electoral lists so that everyone, with the minimum of difficulty, is able to cast a vote, and we welcome that. I do not have 20 questions for the Minister but I am afraid that I do have a dozen.

First, and most importantly, is the fact that we will not have the evaluation of these pilots until after the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill becomes law. Therefore, what happens if the pilots demonstrate real concerns over the process used, such that we doubt whether the 2015 register will really be complete and accurate? What happens if they suggest that there are still adjustments to be made so that, although the system could eventually work, it will not be robust in time for that election or indeed for the boundary review that comes just after it, to which the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, referred?

Secondly, the evaluation will be held by both the Electoral Commission and the Cabinet Office, but what if their assessments vary? What discussion will take place in this House or the other place before individual registration continues, regardless of the outcome of the pilots?

Thirdly, there is still scope for additional pilots, but who would authorise them and would they be done in time?

Fourthly, what if the pilots were to indicate that extra resources were needed, either in particular localities or among particular age or other groups, to increase completeness? Will the Government respond to such an indicated need or will the pilots simply demonstrate the problem but not lead to solutions?

Fifthly, is the Minister satisfied that the spread of authorities is sufficiently varied to produce robust findings? The one that pulled out would obviously have had many students in its area, so some assurance about the student population in the others would be useful. Are there any provisions for any sort of understudy in case one of the remaining 14 was to pull out?

Sixthly, when this was debated in the other place, the question of a register for a Scottish referendum was raised—needless to say, by a Scottish Member of Parliament. Being equally parochial, on Friday I had been planning to ask the Minister whether the new register would be available in time for a referendum on the reform of the Lords, especially one on the electoral system to be used in selecting the new senators, given that the Government gave us a referendum on the election system for the House of Commons. However, having heard over the weekend that there is, I gather, going to be no referendum, either on the electoral system or on this major, significant constitutional change, I have a more minor question to ask instead. Will the Members of your Lordships’ House be able to vote for the elected one-third of the House in May 2015 and, if so, will we be caught by the data-matching pilots?

Electoral Registration

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

My Lords, I would like to congratulate my noble friend Lord Wills on securing this debate on government policy on electoral registration. It is a very timely debate, as other noble Lords have said. I am well aware of my noble friend’s passion on the subject, and his desire to see individual registration properly introduced and for that to improve both the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register. I had the pleasure of working with my noble friend when he was the Minister responsible and it is to his credit that much was done in legislating for the introduction of individual electoral registration. We sometimes seem to forget in this House that individual electoral registration is already on the statute book, introduced by the last Labour Government.

I should advise your Lordships’ House that I am a member of the Electoral Commission. I was appointed as one of the first political commissioners. Like other noble Lords, I want to ensure that we have the most accurate and complete registers possible. We should all work with the Government, the Electoral Commission, local authorities and the professionals on the ground—the electoral registration officers—to ensure that we have the best and most robust system in place. The suggestion from my noble friend Lord Wills that there should be open, all-party talks on this matter, with a view to achieving a bipartisan consensus on the way forward is one that the Government really should take up and run with. Many noble Lords from all parties could play a decisive role if that offer was taken up.

It is also important that the Government are open to ideas and suggestions on what is best practice and that we get the widest possible consensus on where we are going on this subject, so crucial to the health of our democracy. I want to see real consultation with the Local Government Association, SOLACE and the Association of Electoral Administrators—the EROs’ professional body.

Like other noble Lords, I want to refer to the research that the Electoral Commission published before Christmas. This research was funded by the Government and provided a very welcome wake-up call for us all. I hope that it will be used in a positive way to shape the Bill that will come before Parliament in the next Session and will seek to speed up the process and make a number of other changes. All noble Lords in your Lordships’ House should work to ensure that nothing in the proposals from the Government, when they come before the House, weakens measures to improve the accuracy and completeness of the register. If we allow that to happen, we will have failed the citizens of the United Kingdom.

The research tells us that parliamentary registers are 82.3 per cent complete and local government registers are 82 per cent complete. This equates to 8.5 million people unregistered as of April 2011. I fully accept that not all those people are necessarily entitled to vote, but the research goes on to estimate that at least 6 million people who are eligible are not registered to vote. That is a really shocking figure.

I recall, not least when the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill was before this House, Members on this side of the House suggesting that there could be more than 3 million people missing from the register. That sometimes received a sceptical response from the government Benches opposite. I wonder how different the proposals from the Boundaries Commissions of the United Kingdom would be if all those people actually registered to vote. Is it really surprising that accuracy and completeness levels are lower where residents have moved since the previous canvass; or that the lowest level of completeness is recorded among 16 to 18 year-olds and 19 to 25 year-olds; or that in black and minority ethnic communities, completeness is 9 per cent lower than in white communities? I want to hear from the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, a real expression of willingness to work with everybody and anyone to improve the situation.

It is important also to incentivise people to return registration forms, as many noble Lords have mentioned, and to ensure that they understand that it is a civic duty to participate in our democracy. I recently thought that one possibility could be a scheme where every property that had an individual or individuals registered would qualify for a £50 discount in its council tax. I think it should be looked at. Of course other issues need to be addressed as well, but in the short time available cannot be covered in great depth.

We hear many debates and all noble Lords know that life is very tough for people at the moment. If we have more people falling off the register, life just gets tougher for them. Being on the register is one of the most important factors in respect of your credit rating. If you are not on, you are either not going to get credit or you will be forced to the more expensive end of the market. Noble Lords will be aware that I have raised the issue of financial inclusion many times. I hope the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, will give a commitment to the House today to speak to his colleagues in the business department about this possibly troubling, unforeseen consequence if this is not managed correctly.

In conclusion, I again thank my noble friend Lord Wills for calling this debate. It has been very worthwhile and I look forward to the contributions from my noble friend Lord Bach and the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, from the Government.

Big Society

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

My Lords, like other noble Lords before me, I start by thanking my noble friend Lord Ponsonby for initiating this debate on what plans Her Majesty's Government have for the magistracy in the big society. It is a timely debate and we look forward to the Minister’s response.

I served for a number of years as a magistrate as part of the Coventry Bench and I have direct first-hand experience of the work, and the dedication to that work, of magistrates up and down the country. As my noble friend Lord Ponsonby said, magistrates, or justices of the peace, have been around for 650 years. They were “good and lawful men” back in the 14th century—and they were all men then—appointed to every county to “guard the peace”. Perhaps it could be said that they were the trailblazers for the big society, or its original seed, as the noble Baroness, Lady Seccombe, said. I pay tribute to the work that they have done and continue to do to this day. They are men and women living locally, giving their time freely, committed to sitting a minimum of 26 half-days a year, and making a real positive contribution to their community. They are delivering local justice for local people by local people. The former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, observed that the lay magistracy was a “democratic jewel beyond price”.

Noble Lords will be aware that all criminal cases start in the magistrates’ court and that more than 95 per cent are concluded there. At this point, I pay tribute to the work of the Magistrates’ Association in the support, advice and guidance that it gives magistrates. It was 90 years old recently and has made an important contribution to the development of the magistracy over that time.

The big society as an initiative is something that we hear less about from the Government today than we did at the start of their period of office. But we can all point to organisations, people and initiatives that make a welcome and positive contribution to local communities, and lay magistrates fit that bill wonderfully. Magistrates are appointed by the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Justice on the advice of local advisory committees. The appointments process is rigorous in its approach of selecting the right people to undertake this important work.

Having an appointments process that is rigorous and robust but also adaptable is paramount to ensuring that we make the best appointments. Can the noble Lord, Lord McNally, tell us if the Government are looking at the appointments process of both lay magistrates and the advisory committees to ensure that we have the best chance of appointing people who truly reflect their local communities? How are the Government engaging with employers and the voluntary sector to ensure that there is a steady stream of applicants? Are they working with, for example, local Sure Start centres to get younger women with children to consider putting themselves forward as magistrates? My noble friends Lord Patel and Lord Ponsonby made important points regarding diversity.

I am sure that noble Lords are aware of the Magistrates in the Community programme, which was started by the Magistrates’ Association. In recent years it has increased the public's awareness of the role of magistrates in the criminal and civil justice system. It involves magistrates attending schools, colleges, community groups and employers to give presentations and to discuss what magistrates do and how they are appointed.

Quite rightly, the Government want to make good use of community sentences. The local crime community sentence programme builds on the success of the Magistrates in the Community project and involves magistrates and probation officers together speaking to community organisations to deliver information on how offenders are dealt with when they have committed a crime that has resulted in a community punishment. When the noble Lord, Lord McNally, responds, can he tell the House what value the Government attach to these initiatives? What support are they giving them and what do they see in terms of further development?

Both the previous Labour Government and this Government recognise the importance and worth of real community engagement in criminal justice strategies. It can increase confidence in the criminal justice system and help to diminish anxieties about crime, although some would say—I should say at this stage that I do not agree with them—that this raises concerns about judicial independence, as the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, told your Lordships’ House. It is an obvious and natural progression, and essential for enhancing community confidence in the justice process. Can the noble Lord also give some insight to the thinking of the Government and perhaps tell the House how he sees this being further developed? When does he expect the training material and other briefing devices to be fully reflective of this?

In conclusion, I am aware that I and other noble Lords have posed a number of questions to the noble Lord, Lord McNally, and it may not be possible to answer all the points in the time that he has. If that is the case, I should be delighted to receive responses to the points raised in writing. I again thank my noble friend Lord Ponsonby for initiating this debate. We have had excellent contributions from all around the House and, like others, I look forward to what the noble Lord, Lord McNally, has to say.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 5th October 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made concerning the holding of the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2009 decided that Sri Lanka should host in 2013. We, together with other Commonwealth members, urge Sri Lanka, as host, to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the Commonwealth values of human rights, good governance and the rule of law. A key part of that will be to address long-standing issues about accountability and reconciliation after the recent conflict. We have made that clear, and we expect to see progress by the end of the year.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark]

I thank the noble Lord for his response. Given the devastating UN report on the final days of the war which has been submitted to the Human Rights Council of the UN, alleging that war crimes were committed, does he accept that the British Government should go to Perth and state clearly that, until those matters are looked into properly and investigated independently, it would be wrong for Sri Lanka to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2013?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I am aware that the Canadian Prime Minister has been reported as saying that Canada will not go. I have looked carefully at what he said, and he actually said that if there was not an improvement, it was unlikely that he would go. We all have to be concerned that at this stage with doing everything we can to ensure that the process of reconciliation within Sri Lanka continues to move forward.