Oral Answers to Questions

Chloe Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 28th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Philp (Croydon South) (Con)]

2. What steps the Government are taking to tackle electoral fraud.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

Electoral fraud is unacceptable at any level, and vulnerabilities cannot be allowed to continue to undermine the integrity of our democracy, so the Cabinet Office is working with five local authorities to pilot voter identification and with three others to pilot measures to improve the integrity of the postal and proxy vote processes.

[Chris Philp]

What efforts are being made to cross-reference the electoral roll with the immigration and nationality database to ensure that only people with eligible nationalities appear on the electoral roll and can therefore vote?

[Chloe Smith]

We entrust electoral registration officers to do that task, and we think it is very important that they do so. Electoral registration officers have the ability to make nationality checks where they believe it is appropriate. Indeed, this House also recently agreed to changes to the registration forms to emphasise to would-be voters that such checks will be made, and we think that is important.

[Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)]

Over 40 leading charities and academics have written to the Minister expressing their concern that these voter ID pilot areas have failed to carry out equality impact assessments adequately. Most participating authorities have identified negative impacts on various groups, such as people with disabilities, Asian and black communities and Travellers, but astonishingly Bromley Borough Council claims the pilot will have no impact on any of those groups. Why is the Minister allowing these pilots to proceed on the basis of such clearly inadequate equality impact assessments?

[Chloe Smith]

These pilots are, in fact, very important. They allow us, as a country, to begin to be sure that the people voting in any given election are eligible to do so. I continue to be disappointed that the Labour party seems to think that that is not necessary. Each local authority involved in these pilots has clear plans, first, to be able to communicate with voters to instruct them on what to do on the day and, secondly, to help anybody who might find themselves unable to produce the required ID. Nobody will be left behind in these pilots.

[Eddie Hughes (Walsall North) (Con)]

3. What assessment he has made of the nature and extent of barriers to women seeking election to political office.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

4. What steps the Government are taking to ensure the transparency of donations and loans to political parties.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

Donations and loans to political parties are subject to transparency rules, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Government remain committed to such transparency, recently passing legislation to extend the requirements to donations and loans in Northern Ireland for the first time.

[Alex Cunningham]

In the light of recent revelations, how much of the hundreds of thousands of pounds donated to the Tory party by Russians will be returned?

[Chloe Smith]

The rules on donations are very clear in terms of permissibility and impermissibility: British citizens are entitled to donate to UK political parties and foreign donors are not.

[Mr Speaker]

We have a lot to get through. Quick sentences please.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend reissue the requirements that all political parties have to honour on donations, so that no one can fall foul of the rules?

[Chloe Smith]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s reminder that we all simply have to abide by the law of this country.

[Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP)]

Earlier this month, the House approved regulations requiring the Electoral Commission to disclose donations for parties in Northern Ireland, but that was limited to events taking place after 1 July last year. Given the recent disclosures and in particular the allegations about dark money going from the Constitutional Research Council, which is linked to the Scottish Conservatives, to the Democratic Unionist party, will the Minister consider bringing forward a new order to require the Electoral Commission to disclose information relating to the period from 2015?

[Chloe Smith]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has been clear that, although she does not have any plans to provide for publication of the pre-2017 data, we will look to review the broader framework once those arrangements have bedded in. What I would say is that she and her predecessor took those decisions because the majority of parties in Northern Ireland agreed at the time that it was the right thing to do, and, indeed, the Labour Front Bench team, before it was against it, was for it.

[Jon Trickett (Hemsworth) (Lab)]

Last month, access to members of the British Cabinet was auctioned off for around £55,000 per Minister—although the Secretary of State for International Trade was worth only £2,000. The Minister’s job in the Cabinet Office is to ensure “propriety, ethics and transparency” in government; does she agree that auctioning off access to Ministers undermines confidence in democracy by giving the impression of a Government for sale? Will she take steps immediately to secure transparency and propriety in all such matters in future?

[Chloe Smith]

As I said in answer to a previous question, all donations are registered in accordance with the law. I appreciate that in recent days some points have been raised; indeed, some were raised in the Chamber yesterday, after your decision to grant an emergency debate, Mr Speaker. There are a lot of allegations in the air at the moment, but what the Government have to do is deal with the law as it stands and allow the correct bodies to carry out their investigations.

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

5. Whether he plans to reform hereditary peers’ membership of the House of Lords.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

As our manifesto made clear, we will continue to ensure that the House of Lords remains relevant and effective by addressing issues such as its size and where there is consensus across both Houses for action. We acknowledge the ongoing work of the Burns Committee, which will consider the next steps on reducing the size of the House of Lords.

[David Hanson]

The Prime Minister wants to reduce the size of the House of Lords, so why not start with the 91 men and only one woman who owe their place there not to their intrinsic merit but to their ancestors? The House is due to debate my private Member’s Bill on 27 April; the Minister could vote for it, or she could vote for Lord Grocott’s Bill, which has been introduced in the other place. Why not do it?

[Chloe Smith]

I very much look forward to discussing the right hon. Gentleman’s private Member’s Bill with him and know that conversations are ongoing on this issue in the other place.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

Never mind the hereditaries, the House of Lords is stuffed full of people who are too London-centric. When are we going to have more Yorkshire folk and more of the good men and women of Lincolnshire in the House of Lords?

[Chloe Smith]

Very soon, I hope.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

6. What steps his Department is taking to support the use of small businesses in Government procurement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

T4. An RNIB report on the general election of 2017 shockingly found that one in four blind and partially sighted people were unable to vote independently and in secret. With just five weeks to go until the upcoming local elections, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that blind and partially sighted people can vote independently and in secret?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

There are already measures in place. For example, there are improvements to the way that the certificate of visual impairment can be shared with local authorities. I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss this further.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

T2. Perhaps an apt question for Spy Wednesday is: what more can be done to ensure cyber-security across our public sector?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Lidington]

rose—

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chloe Smith)]

My right hon. Friend and I are both so keen to answer that question that we are vying to do so.

The Conservative party manifesto was quite clear that we shall not be doing that, and it was that manifesto that won the general election.

[Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)]

T7. Victims of the contaminated blood scandal have waited—[Interruption.]

--- Later in debate ---

[Chloe Smith]

The hon. Gentleman is unaware that the number of people on his own constituency’s electoral register rose, according to Office for National Statistics figures released last week.

[Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)]

What conversations has the Minister had with charities and health workers about raising awareness of changes to anonymous voter registration for victims of domestic abuse?

[Chloe Smith]

I really welcome this question, as it gives us an opportunity to remind health workers and the professionals throughout our constituencies who can now help with this. For example, the Royal College of Midwives, with Government support, recently released such guidance.

The Prime Minister was asked—