Oral Answers to Questions

Gary Streeter Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon)]

The Electoral Commission has made a number of recommendations to the Government on the administration of UK-wide elections, most recently in its report on the 2010 parliamentary general election. The commission has recommended that the Government set out a comprehensive plan to improve the management of elections and to make it easier for voters to participate.

[Sajid Javid]

Although the result of the recent alternative vote referendum was probably predictable from the beginning, it was nevertheless a very well-run process. Are there any lessons that we can learn from that for future UK-wide elections?

[Mr Streeter]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is being very perceptive, because there has been widespread public appreciation of how the UK referendum was run earlier in the year. The commission will be publishing a report next Wednesday that will make a number of recommendations for improving the delivery of all future UK-wide elections and will, in particular, emphasise the benefits of central co-ordination.

[Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)]

What consideration has the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission given to ensuring the integrity of the UK-wide franchise? We are hearing of proposals from the Scottish Government to extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds for their proposed referendum on Scotland separating from the UK.

[Mr Streeter]

The commission takes all such issues very seriously, and although I do not have a lot of knowledge of that particular issue, no doubt the commission is considering it. If I can respond to the hon. Gentleman in writing, I shall certainly do so.

The hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

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[Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)]

7. What estimate the Electoral Commission has made of the cost of holding elections for police commissioners.

[Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon)]

The Government included an estimate of the cost of holding elections for police and crime commissioners in May 2012 in their original impact assessment. When the Government proposed to move the date of the elections to November 2012, the commission advised Parliament that additional costs would arise from holding a stand-alone election and that it would be important to ensure adequate resources were in place. The commission has made no separate estimate of the cost of holding those elections.

[Hugh Bayley]

In North Yorkshire—just to give an example from one county—the Government have cut funding for the police from £54 million to £47 million in just two years. Will the hon. Gentleman make representations to the Electoral Commission to do all it can to reduce the cost of the elections and urge the Government to vire the money saved back into front-line policing?

[Mr Streeter]

I think the hon. Gentleman is raging against the policy rather than the Electoral Commission’s role in it. The costs are those incurred by the Government and local authorities, not the Electoral Commission, but I am sure that his plea for the cost of the elections to be minimised will be heard in the appropriate quarters.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

8. What recent discussions the Electoral Commission has had on giving communities the power to hold local referendums; and if he will make a statement.

[Mr Streeter]

The Electoral Commission has had no recent discussions on giving communities the power to hold local referendums. It has, however, set out its views on the proposals contained in the Localism Bill in briefings to Parliament. The commission’s priorities are that any referendum should be consistently well run and that the question put to voters should be intelligible and unbiased.

[Robert Halfon]

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. In Harlow a planning application for a waste transfer site has been pushed through by Essex council against the will of local residents, the Tany’s Dell primary school and Harlow council. How soon will the powers for local referendums be put in place, so that Harlow people can have their say?

[Mr Streeter]

As ever, my hon. Friend is a doughty champion for the people of Harlow, but he will know that the local referendum provisions are contained in the Localism Bill, which is currently going through the House of Lords. Once the Bill has received Royal Assent, the Government will then need to produce detailed rules for local referendums, which the Electoral Commission will study very carefully indeed, so I am afraid that his constituents may have to wait a little while longer.

The hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—