Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) Order 2007

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) Order 2007. The noble Lord said: It may be helpful to noble Lords if I start by going over the background to the order. On 8 May, the then Secretary of State for Scotland made a Statement in another place about the problems faced at this year’s Scottish parliamentary elections. I repeated his Statement in this House. It focused on the statutory review to be undertaken by the Electoral Commission under Section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. That review will focus on the following issues: the high number of rejected ballots, the electronic counting process, the arrangements for postal voting, the decision to hold the parliamentary and local government polls on the same day, the decision to combine the two parliamentary votes on one ballot sheet, the process by which key decisions were made, and the role of the Electoral Commission in the preparations for the elections. The Electoral Commission has, as we know, appointed Mr Ron Gould, an international expert in electoral administration, to lead its review. As requested by Scottish Executive Ministers prior to the elections, the review will also cover the Scottish local elections. Mr Gould has said that he aims to complete his work by the end of August. Last month, he met with the then Secretary of State for Scotland and the current Minister of State at the Scotland Office. At that meeting, Mr Gould asked about the possibility of gaining access to ballot papers to examine the nature and cause of the high level of spoilage. Ministers undertook to follow up this request and, following consideration of the legal framework and official-level discussions with the review team, this order was laid before the House. That, briefly, is the history to date of the order. I will now say a little about its substance. It provides a mechanism to enable the Electoral Commission to access the ballot papers and electronic counting images from this year’s Scottish parliamentary election. Currently, papers are sealed up and held securely by sheriff clerks and access can be granted only in cases of alleged fraud or where an election petition is being prepared. The same applies to the electronic record, which is a new item in Scotland, but which can provide the review team with information about spoilt ballot papers and may reduce the need for the team to examine actual ballot papers. Before the commission’s review team is given access, it is vital that safeguards are in place. The order’s primary security feature is that it denies the commission access to the corresponding number lists, which link elector numbers with the barcodes and numbers printed on the back of ballot papers. Without these lists, ballot papers cannot be linked back to individuals and so the secrecy of the ballot is maintained. Further, and to ensure proper controls over documents, the order requires that once the review team has completed its work, the papers and records must be sealed up again, returned to the relevant sheriff clerk and any copies destroyed. Since the time of this House should be used wisely, we do not yet know whether further scrutiny might be desirable after future Scottish Parliament elections or by-elections. The order is not expressly limited to the poll last May. However, it does not simply provide open-ended access. Control is achieved by linking access to Section 6(2) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which allows the Secretary of State to request the commission to undertake reviews into specific subjects. Under the order, the commission may access ballot papers only when requested to do so by the Secretary of State. Since the Secretary of State is answerable to Parliament, the order therefore provides for parliamentary accountability for any decision to provide ballot paper access. As local elections in Scotland are a devolved matter, the order applies only to the Scottish parliamentary elections. If we are to learn the lessons of the 2007 elections, the Electoral Commission’s review team must, as has been requested, have access to ballot papers. The order provides that access, while maintaining the secrecy of the ballot and ensuring parliamentary accountability. I beg to move. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Amendment) Order 2007. 23rd report from the Statutory Instruments Committee.—(Lord Evans of Temple Guiting.)