Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order 2009

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for explaining these two statutory instruments, which are not as simple as would appear from the two or three pages on which they are written. I supported strongly the change from 26 to 11—except that I would have preferred seven. I said that for the benefit of the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney. However, we are in a time of change and I am not comfortable with the proposed dates. A great deal of change is going to take place. However, we are almost at the end of 2009 and it does not appear that the jobs that were supposed to have been completed by the end of 2009 are going to happen. We are into November, the parliamentary term ends within three weeks and I cannot see the expected changes taking place in 2009. The order refers also to this taking place in 2010. Is it December 2010 or January 2010? It clearly probably is not January 2010, but the order does not give any indication within 12 months as to when it is expected. Paragraph 4.1 of the Explanatory Notes to the electoral law order states: ""This Order is needed to postpone the preparation of the draft polling station scheme that is due to take place in 2009 until 2010"." That could cover 24 months or, as it now stands, two months. Perhaps the Minister can provide clarity on that. As to the DEAC’s responsibilities for communication, the pragmatic approach of not forcing him to publish the preliminary offerings in the newspapers in order to save money seems very sensible, although the noble Lord opposite may not be terribly happy about that for other reasons. In principle, I agree with all that is being done and my comments are in no way a criticism of the DEAC, whom I have known for a number of years. However, I fear that the timescale lacks realism.