Representation of the People (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

My Lords, I came here earlier to talk about apprenticeships. By coincidence, I see a piece of Scottish business before us. I am of course interested in the matter. I sat in the other place for 30 years. By virtue of that, I was a parliamentary candidate for many years, and in local government before that. Perhaps I may ask the Minister which sheriff clerks have been complaining, because I have not heard any complaints. The system seemed to work for the 30 years that I was an elected Member of the other House. Perhaps the Minister could tell us which sheriffs have said that this is too tough for them. No one seemed to complain in the past. We must be careful not to put an extra burden on local government. It is not only the financial side of things; office space is at a premium in most local government buildings because of worthwhile legislation concerning health and safety. The workforce must have proper space, and there must always be proper access to a building. Taking on this extra job will in some cases put a strain on local authority buildings, because a facility will have to be found so that visitors, including disabled visitors, will be able to get access. It will involve extra accommodation. I recall the Scottish Government elections two years ago. Both Houses had agreed on an electronic system. That put a terrible strain on local government. When it came to the counts, there was great difficulty getting the results. If it had been done manually, we would have got the results, albeit at 3 am or 4 am. In the local authority where I live, the postal votes were not ready. Because I knew my way around the local government buildings, I was able to say, "Look, you must get my postal vote to me before Saturday or else I will not be able to exercise my right to vote". This is an indication of the terrible strain on local government. If the regulations are to be implemented for the next general election, which is only weeks away, it will be more of a strain, because things that are done in a rush can cause difficulties. Who is doing the complaining? If we are passing orders through this House, we should know where the complaints are coming from. The geography of Scotland is very different from other parts of the country. In the city of Glasgow, to which I am so used, it is easy to get to the sheriff’s building, but if you live in the constituency of Argyll, getting from Campbeltown to Inveraray or to Oban is a full day’s journey. The constituency represented by the noble Lord sitting opposite me up in the Highlands is certainly not one where it is a 15-minute journey to get to these buildings. The long distances involved in some of these constituencies will put an extra strain on local government because people have become used to the sheriff’s building having these facilities. In an island community, different islands may now hold the information.