Political Parties and Elections Bill

As this is the first day of Committee, I place again on record my interest as an officer and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. I speak from the Front Bench in this regard. I want to make some general points of principle and approach. This is a very important piece of legislation. We are all agreed on that. On it hangs an attempt to reinvigorate some confidence and surety from the electorate in the electoral system, which is the cornerstone of our constitution in this country. As such, it behoves us to ensure that the legislation is thoroughly debated and understood at every level. One of the things which concerned me and on which I suppose we got off on the wrong foot was that the clauses on individual voter registration that we had been waiting for for some time actually appeared only this morning. That is almost two months after they were promised. Some nine pages of amendments have now come through, to be debated after Clause 21, on a new clause on individual voter registration. They appeared on the morning that this vital Bill appears in Committee. I have to say that we are very disappointed at that. The reason given by the Minister’s team is that these are extraordinarily complicated issues which have required very careful drafting. We entirely agree with that, but they also require very careful scrutiny. It is important that all Members of the Committee are given adequate time to consider these vital clauses and that has not been done in this case. We on this side are very disappointed and concerned about that. It is not as if this is the first time. When the Bill was first put forward, it was debated extensively and for some time in Committee in the other place. Only at Report stage did the Government bring forward a whole series of areas in which there would be a conciliatory approach and on which they would introduce amendments. Therefore, there was very little opportunity in the other place for Members to discuss the implications of those amendments. We had hoped that a lot more time would be given to us in this place to consider them; but we very much feel that it is unsatisfactory that a large and vital section on individual voter registration has been delayed until this point. I should say that it is out of character with the way that the Minister, who has been very courteous in dealing with this and has tried to inform us at every stage, has behaved. I want to place on the record that area of concern, which is strongly felt on this side of the Committee. This amendment relates to the compliance with controls imposed by the 2000 Act and seeks to leave out at page 1, line 7, ""and taking such steps as they consider appropriate with a view to securing"." That would remove what is effectively a blank cheque with which the Electoral Commission could proceed in its investigatory powers as it considered appropriate. Again, the Committee will be familiar with the issues we have raised in regard to the powers of investigation. We do not need to be so vague in Clause 1(2) because Schedule 1 outlines the investigatory powers of the commission in extensive detail over some six pages of the Bill. We will debate amendments to these powers later in the Bill. The powers are extensive and clearly set out and the amendment seeks to probe the Minister as to what type of investigations and appropriate steps the Electoral Commission could consider which do not fall within the remit of the powers of investigation contained in the schedule. Does the Minister agree that ""such steps as they consider appropriate"" is an ambiguous enabling power? Does he consider that some definition and clarification of this power might be usefully inserted in the Bill? I would be grateful if the Minister could explain the circumstances in which this wider power might be considered appropriate. We realise that this is very important work. We do not want to be seen in any way as thwarting or putting barriers in the way of the Electoral Commission in doing its vital work of upholding the integrity of our electoral system. However, we on this side believe that we should have further detail as to what is intended. Can the Minister say what steps he envisages the Electoral Commission focusing on? Will those avenues become well trod? In other words, will the clause be considered and used in practice? Some helpful briefing has been provided by a number of organisations, including the Electoral Commission itself. Its comment on the amendment is that it would not wish to see it go through—one can well understand why—and, depending on the Minister’s reply, we will consider whether we wish to press it. However, it is important that we set the right tone at the beginning of the debate. What is the point of listing all the investigatory powers of the commission and the circumstances in which they might be used in great detail in Schedule 1, and then throwing the door wide open by stating that, in addition, it can take any other steps it considers appropriate to secure compliance? I beg to move.