Political Parties and Elections Bill

The Electoral Commission is required by Section 6 of the 2000 Act to keep under review and from time to time submit reports to the Secretary of State on matters relating to elections, referendums, the redistribution of seats at parliamentary elections, the registration of political parties, the regulation of income and expenditure, political advertising in broadcast and other electronic media and the law relating to these matters. I mention in passing, following yesterday’s debate, that the commission is not required to report on institutions of government or institutions of the European Union. The commission may also be required by the Secretary of State, under subsection (2), to review and submit reports on matters specified by the Secretary of State. The reports produced under the terms of this section are published in such a manner as the commission determines. The areas covered are clearly important and relate to the commission’s areas of expertise. However, Section 6 is silent about what happens to the reports once they have been published. There is no requirement for the Secretary of State to have regard to them, or even to respond to them. My amendment would ensure that, when the commission makes a report to the Secretary of State under the provisions of Section 6, the Secretary of State responds in writing within six months of the day of publication of the report. The requirement to reply within six months is not onerous. Ministers seek to reply to Select Committee reports within two months of publication. In this House it used to be six months for committees other than the European Union Committee; but the Government recently agreed that it should be two months for all committee reports. The Government seek to respond to Law Commission reports within six months. I have opted for the more generous six-month period. If it is to be a statutory provision, that seems appropriate. The second part of the amendment seeks to address the obvious objection to imposing a statutory time limit, namely that it may not always be possible to provide a substantive response in six months if the report is highly technical. My proposed new subsection (2) provides that if the Secretary of State is unable to respond within six months, he shall inform the Electoral Commission of that fact, and the reasons for it, not later than the day on which the response is due. The provisions of the clause are not unduly onerous; indeed, they are open to the objection that they are not tight enough. However, they have the merit of imposing on the Secretary of State a duty to respond to reports from the Electoral Commission. Such a requirement is eminently sensible. It would bring Electoral Commission reports into line with Law Commission reports, and ensure not only that they are taken seriously by the Secretary of State, but are seen to be taken seriously—an important element of transparency. If the commission believes that a matter is of such weight as to justify a report to the Secretary of State, or if the Secretary of State believes that a matter is of sufficient importance to require a report from the commission, there should be a requirement on the Secretary of State to provide a written response. The new clause imposes no requirement in terms of content; that must be a matter for the Minister, as is the case with responses to Select Committee and Law Commission reports. All that is required under this clause is that the Secretary of State must reply in writing; I believe that it imposes a useful—indeed, a necessary—discipline. I beg to move.