National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 2007

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Roberts of Conwy, Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Lord Crickhowell, for their interesting and substantial comments on the order. I shall attempt to answer all the points but, if I fail to do so, I shall write to noble Lords. The first point that the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, made—a view shared by the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell—concerned the timing of the order. Like him, I wish that it could have been brought forward earlier. As he pointed out, the Government of Wales Act and the Electoral Administration Act received Royal Assent several months ago, but this order also takes account of substantial changes made to secondary legislation in recent months. The last of these were in the local government election conduct orders made on 12 December. The present order was laid a week later and I hope that the noble Lord will accept that, in the circumstances, that was the earliest practicable date. The noble Lord also raised specific points on absent votes and personal identifiers. Because this order could not be brought into force before the end of 2006, the timing provisions for collecting personal identifiers from existing absent voters are different from those in the Absent Voting (Transitional Provisions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006, which relate to parliamentary and local government elections. But, if an elector has already provided identifiers under the transitional provisions regulations, those will be equally valid for Assembly elections, so there is no need to collect a second set. We do not want people to fall off the list of postal voters. To minimise that risk, electors who do not respond to the first request will receive a reminder after three weeks. However, personal identifiers are a key element in improving security, so, if an elector has failed to provide them after a total of seven weeks, it will be necessary to remove that person from the list of absent voters. The electoral registration officer must notify electors in writing that that has been done and provide details of how, if they wish, they may submit a fresh application with the required personal identifiers. So every effort is being made to encourage people to remain registered as absent voters. The level of verification prescribed for personal identifiers is consistent with the approach being adopted at present for local government and parliamentary elections. The Government believe that 20 per cent is a statistically robust figure for sample checking and that it will be a good indicator of whether fraud is occurring—a concern raised by the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, in particular. But this is a minimum: the returning officer may decide on a higher rate and, even if he or she begins with 20 per cent, that can be increased later if evidence of fraud emerges. The Government are keen to move to 100 per cent verification as soon as is practicable and we plan to apply that to Assembly elections at the same time as the change is made for parliamentary and local government elections. I turn to noble Lords’ comments about candidates’ expenses. I should emphasise that the order is concerned with the election expenses only of constituency candidates and individual candidates at regional elections. Apart from a small amount for personal expenses, there are no individual limits for party-list candidates, whose election expenses are treated as part of their party’s expenditure, which is regulated under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The limits for constituency candidates are in line with the recommendations of the Electoral Commission. The figures are the same as those that applied at the 2005 general election. Similarly, the £100,000 limit for an election to fill a casual vacancy is the same as that for a by-election to the other place. It reflects the fact that candidates at such elections do not benefit from a wider national campaign. The limit for an individual candidate at a regional election is the aggregate of all the constituency limits in the region, reflecting the need to communicate with a significantly larger electorate. The noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, raised three points, the first of which related to the timing of the count and the delaying of it until the next day. The order requires the count to begin as soon as possible after the close of poll. If appropriate, a returning officer can agree with the counting agents to defer the count until 9 am on the Friday morning. But the Government would normally wish the count to be taken forward with a minimum of delay. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Wales has no plans to exercise his power to issue direction that counting be delayed. The noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, raised the point about signing the ballot papers. In December, my colleagues at the Department for Constitutional Affairs announced that the Government would not be commencing the requirement for electors to supply a signature before receiving their ballot paper in a polling station. Our general approach is that the conduct of Assembly elections should as nearly as possible be identical to that for elections to the other place, so personal voters will not be required to sign for ballot papers at Assembly elections. The decision not to proceed with the requirement for signatures stemmed from uncertainty over the appropriate sanction if a voter refused to sign. The Government plan to clarify primary legislation at the earliest opportunity to bring a clearer requirement for signatures in polling stations. We shall reflect any changes in future Assembly election orders. The noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, has a concern about the way in which a party is described on the ballot paper. The ballot papers in the order are only illustrations. Only the names or descriptions that a party has registered with the Electoral Commission can appear on the ballot paper, so, subject to sensible safeguards to avoid confusion or giving offence, that is entirely within the party’s control. The noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, asked about the collection of personal identifiers—I believe that I have already answered this point—and referred to his wife, who is overseas. I should emphasise that postal voters will have seven weeks to provide personal identifiers. That is the same for parliamentary and local government elections. The noble Lord mentioned the definitions of electoral expenses. Electoral expenses are set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 as amended by the Electoral Administration Act 2006. We have identified those definitions. He also asked whether the timetable impacts on the four principles that he mentioned. I thank him for recognising the vital importance of those principles, which the Government are committed to meeting in full. The present order replicates provisions already implemented for other elections. I hope that that response answers all the questions that I have been asked. If I have missed any, I will write to the appropriate noble Lord, but in the mean time I commend the order.