European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

My Lords, the three instruments I am moving this afternoon all deal with electoral matters in Northern Ireland. I turn first to the draft Representation of the People (Timing of the Canvass) (Northern Ireland) Order. This order removes the requirement for a canvass to be held in 2010, and has been brought forward following a recommendation to the Secretary of State from the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland. It may assist noble Lords if I provide some background to the order. Noble Lords will be aware that there is a system of individual registration in Northern Ireland. Electors must provide a signature, date of birth and national insurance number when registering. The chief electoral officer may also require proof of a resident’s entitlement to be registered, including, for example, proof of nationality or residency. These measures are vital to protect against electoral fraud and to restore confidence in Northern Ireland's electoral process. They have also helped to ensure that the electoral register remains as accurate as possible. However, requiring electors to provide such information annually through the canvass was becoming a burden on both electoral administrators and electors. The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 amended the Representation of the People Act 1983 to remove the requirement for an annual canvass to be conducted in Northern Ireland. Alternative methods would instead be used by the chief electoral officer to maintain the accuracy of the register; for example, using information received from specified public authorities to verify a person's entitlement to be registered. That provision did not entirely remove the requirement for a canvass to be held in Northern Ireland. Section 10ZA of the 1983 Act, inserted by the miscellaneous provisions Act, provides for a canvass to be held in 2010 and every 10th year thereafter. The requirement for a canvass to be held in 2010 was included as a safeguard because it was not clear at that stage how effective the alternative registration methods would be. For that reason, the requirement to conduct this canvass may be removed by order, but such an order can be made only if the chief electoral officer recommends against a 2010 canvass on the basis that it is not needed for the purpose of meeting his registration objectives. I can inform noble Lords that the chief electoral officer has written to the Secretary of State recommending against a 2010 canvass. The order before us this afternoon would give effect to this recommendation. I reassure noble Lords that the removal of the requirement for a 2010 canvass does not mean that there will not be a canvass until 2020. Indeed, the law states that a canvass must take place in 2016 if one has not been held in an intervening year. Furthermore, a canvass may be held in any intervening year if the chief electoral officer recommends that a canvass is necessary in order to meet his registration objectives, and if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the public interest requires a canvass to be held for that purpose. I now turn to the remaining instruments before us today, which would amend the way in which vacant European parliamentary and district council seats in Northern Ireland are filled. The draft Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order amends the process by which casual vacancies on district councils in Northern Ireland are filled. Under the current procedure, if a seat becomes vacant, a replacement may be co-opted without the need for a by-election. However, any proposed co-option will fail if any of the remaining councillors object to it. If the co-option fails, a by-election must be held to fill the vacancy. Noble Lords will be aware that elections to district councils in Northern Ireland are held under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation—or PR-STV. By-elections in PR-STV systems are undesirable because they may distort the careful party and community balance existing at the time of the election. Co-option has worked well in many councils over the years, but there has been increasing concern that the current requirement for unanimous agreement provides scope for individual members to object and force a by-election against the wishes of the vast majority of the council. Noble Lords may be aware of the proposed move from 26 to 11 district councils in Northern Ireland. These 11 councils will be much larger than the existing councils with around 40 to 60 members each, and unanimous agreement to a co-option will be even more difficult in these circumstances. The Government undertook full public consultation on a proposal to allow the party to which the vacating member belonged at the time of the election to nominate a replacement. It was further proposed that independent members should be replaced by reference to a list of substitutes submitted by them to the chief electoral officer prior to vacating a seat. There was overwhelming support for this from respondents to the consultation, and the order before us therefore amends Section 11 of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 to give effect to these proposals. The draft European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations seek to make similar amendments to the method of filling vacant seats at the European Parliament. Current regulations provide that any vacancies arising during term must be filled by by-election. I have already expressed my view that by-elections are undesirable in a PR-STV system due to the potential to distort the party balance in existence at the time of the election. With only three members in the European Parliament from Northern Ireland, it is even more important to ensure that party balance is maintained. Consultation in 2008 demonstrated widespread support for vacant European parliamentary seats to be filled by replacement by party nomination or substitution. However, amendment was required to the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 to allow for regulations to be made that would permit this, and noble Lords may recall that such amendment was made by virtue of Section 26 of the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009. These European regulations therefore contain similar provisions to the district councils order to allow for replacement by party nomination or substitution, with some minor technical differences to take account of the different procedures for being returned to the European Parliament. Noble Lords will also be aware that it is possible for candidates to stand in the name of two or more parties at an election. These instruments make provision to cater for such circumstances, so that if such a vacancy arises, the nominating officers of both or all of the parties concerned will be required to provide a joint nomination. These statutory instruments have the support of various interested groups in Northern Ireland, including the political parties, district councils and MEPs. I believe that there are strong reasons to remove the requirement to hold a canvass in 2010, and I hope that noble Lords will be reassured that a canvass must take place in 2016 or in an intervening year if the chief electoral officer recommends this. There is also very strong support for reform of the method of filling vacancies in district council and European parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland for the reasons I have outlined. This will ensure consistency with the method of filling vacancies in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has worked well since its introduction last year. Noble Lords will also be interested to know that many respondents to the consultation on district council vacancies emphasised that these amendments would encourage those councillors holding other elected offices to give up their council seat, safe in the knowledge that it will be retained by their party. I know that noble Lords have been concerned about the issue of "multiple mandates" for some time. I remain of the view that this issue would be best resolved by agreement between the parties themselves in Northern Ireland. However, the Government stand ready to help facilitate and encourage any such agreement, and I believe that the legislation before us will do just that. Once again, I am grateful to noble Lords for permitting me to speak to all three instruments together this afternoon. I beg to move.