Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[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.