Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 (Amendment) Regulations 2024 Draft Combined Authorities (Mayors) Filling of Vacancies Order 2017 (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Wednesday 31st January 2024 General Committees

[The Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety (Lee Rowley)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 (Amendment) Regulations 2024.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Combined Authorities (Mayors) Filling of Vacancies Order 2017 (Amendment) Regulations 2024.

[Lee Rowley]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 11 December 2023. If approved and made, they will provide the rules for the conduct of elections for directly elected mayors of combined county authorities, the rules by which mayoral vacancies in such authorities are to be declared and the procedure for filling them through by-elections.

The draft mayoral elections regulations are essential for the first election of the east midlands combined county authority mayor. Subject to Parliament approving the secondary legislation to establish that mayoralty, the election is planned for May 2024. The regulations will pave the way for further mayoral combined county authority elections. They make detailed provision about the conduct of elections for mayors of combined county authorities by extending the application of the Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 to elections for combined county authority mayors. They also apply the Voter Identification Regulations 2022 to combined county authority mayoral elections, to maintain consistency with other local government elections.

The regulations ensure that transitional provisions for EU citizens who stand as candidates in other local elections in May 2024 apply to combined county authority mayoral candidates. The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 itself largely replicated the rules for elections of local authority mayors and police and crime commissioners. Procedural consistency is the hallmark of local government electoral law and seeks to ensure the smooth running of polls, particularly where they are held in combination.

Let me mention certain specific provisions that we are making for combined county authority mayors, to reflect the constitutional arrangements for such authorities. We are creating a new role—the combined county authority returning officer—to oversee the whole of the election of a combined county authority mayor. This important role mirrors the role of the combined authority returning officer. The regulations clarify that the returning officer for a district council in a two-tier area of a combined county authority is to be responsible for running the mayoral election within that council’s area. That follows the approach generally taken in other polls, such as county council and police and crime commissioner elections.

In addition, the regulations contain two provisions that apply to both combined authority and combined county authority mayoral elections. They enable the appointment of a combined authority returning officer, or a combined county authority returning officer, before the respective authority is established. That will help to ensure the smooth running of the first mayoral election if the statutory instrument that establishes the new authority is delayed.

We have set the figures in the formula for the calculation of candidate spending limits at combined county authority mayoral elections at £3,040 per constituent council and 8p per elector. We have consulted the Electoral Commission, as statute requires, and, on the basis that the figures align with the candidate spending limits for combined authority mayors, the commission recommended this approach. The regulations establish new spending limits for combined authority mayors by uprating in line with inflation the limits that were set in 2017. We have used the powers given by Parliament to the Secretary of State to make such upratings in line with inflation, so no further recommendation is required from the Electoral Commission. Parity is therefore maintained between combined county authority elections and combined authority elections.

The filling of vacancies regulations also extend the scope of the existing provision for combined authorities to include combined county authorities. They are necessary to establish the rules by which vacancies are to be declared in the office of combined county authority mayor and the procedure for filling such vacancies through by-elections. The provisions need to be in place in advance of any combined county authority mayor being elected to ensure that any subsequent vacancy can be appropriately and consistently dealt with.

The Government undertook extensive consultation ahead of the 2017 electoral provisions for combined authorities. The regulations apply the 2017 provisions to combined county authorities, reflecting the parity between the two types of authority. We have undertaken statutory consultation with the Electoral Commission on the provision in the draft mayoral elections regulations about expense limits for candidates for combined county authority mayoral elections and combined authority elections. The regulations reflect the commission’s recommendation on setting a new combined county authority mayoral spending limit.

In addition, we shared informally with the commission a draft of the filling of vacancies regulations. We have also engaged with officers of constituent councils of the east midlands, and we are grateful for their input as we have developed drafts.

In conclusion, the draft regulations set out a robust legal framework for the election of combined county authority mayors. They provide the necessary clarity to those tasked with running those elections and ensure that local electors can have confidence in their fair conduct.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Rowley]

I will not detain the Committee for more than a few moments. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton for confirming that the official Opposition will not seek to divide today, and I welcome their broad willingness to support the change.

In response to the hon. Member’s points, I understand that there is a broad and valid debate to be had about the composition of combined authorities. That has been discussed previously by my colleagues and others in this place and beyond. Other people will take different views about the decision and its end point, but it will be incumbent on the elected mayor, whether it be Claire Ward or, more likely and hopefully, my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Ben Bradley), in a few months’ time, to make sure that he or she—I say this as an east midlands Member of Parliament—rightly engages both of our counties and all our district councils to ensure that they bring together the broadest range of voices so that the east midlands can speak even louder.

With that answer, and the confirmation from the Government that we are looking forward to working closely with my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield when he is successful in May, I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Draft Combined authorities (Mayors) Filling of Vacancies Order 2017 (Amendment) regulations 2024

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Combined Authorities (Mayors) Filling of Vacancies Order 2017 (Amendment) Regulations 2024. —(Lee Rowley.)