Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

My Lords, I start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, for the way in which he introduced his amendment, which facilitated the debate on the very important amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, the Convener of the Cross Benches. I thank the noble Baroness for her amendment and for the helpful spirit in which she moved it, and all noble Lords for the general tenor of the Committee debate. As was indicated in some contributions, we have already had debates on the shape of the consultation process, most notably last Wednesday evening, when opposition Amendment 93 was debated. It was similar to Amendment 94 in a number of respects, but not identical in one crucial respect. My colleagues and I have listened with care to the arguments and strong opinions of both sides, expressed last week, today and, it is fair to say, in a number of other debates in Committee when the issue of public inquiries was raised. I thank the noble Baroness for the valuable contribution that she is making, not only with this amendment but in the process of discussion and negotiation on the Bill. I hope that she knows that I am as keen as she is to find a satisfactory resolution to these matters. A week ago, she made clear during a short debate the desire of the Cross Benches that both Government and Opposition should engage in discussions in order that progress could be made on the Bill ““with dignity and resolve””—I think those were her words. We welcome that sentiment. As we have made clear, the Government are open to considering reasonable improvements to the Bill provided that they do not compromise its fundamental principles. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, quoted me saying last week that there was no objection in principle to the idea of oral hearings. The Bill establishes a consultation process that the Government consider is already an improvement on the process set out in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. That Act allows one month for written representations followed by a local inquiry if objections are received from an interested local authority or from 100 or more electors. A further month for written representations follows where a commission revises its recommendations, with the discretion to hold a second public inquiry. The Bill extends the period for written representations from one month to 12 weeks, with a second period of 12 weeks where recommendations are revised. However, as has been pointed out, the Bill as it stands removes the facility for local inquiries. Having considered the detail of the amendment, and recognising and acknowledging the spirit in which it was moved, our concern about its detail is that it effectively could reintroduce the current system of local inquiries, which, as my noble friend Lord Mawhinney indicated, has not always been the best means of conducting these matters. At least one inquiry in the previous general review lasted for 12 days, and a number of inquiries lasted for 10 days. I indicated last week why we did not wish to go down that particular road of public inquiries. However, we heard the points made that they could nevertheless be important safety valves. It was the noble Lord, Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe, who said last week that an inquiry can be an opportunity for people to have their say. That is certainly something that we very much recognise. Like the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, I do not wish again to go over all the arguments made last week, including some of the academic arguments for and against the public inquiry system. However, I said last Wednesday that we had listened carefully to the concern of those who argue that there should be some oral element to the boundary review process. We have listened to the concerns of those who consider that this will be the first such review under the new arrangements—one of the points made by the noble and learned Lord in response to my reply last week—and in the review at which the Commons will first assume its new size, there ought to be some means by which the commission’s proposals can be presented publicly and debated in a public forum. The noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, encouraged me to go further than I did last week. I can assure not just her but the Committee that considerable discussion, consultation and consideration has been undertaken since last week. I am in a position to say that the Government propose a public hearing process, enabling an opportunity for the public and the parties to express their view, and provide sensible discretion for the Boundary Commissions to ensure that the timetable for completion of the review by October 2013 is met. This obviously would be put in the Bill. This process can be carried out in a modern and efficient manner to meet the timetable. I think and I hope that my reply is very much in the spirit of the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza. Perhaps I should remind the Committee that together with this—because it was very late last Wednesday—the Government have already said that we will, in addition, provide for an initial counter-representation stage. Nothing I have said today detracts from the concession we made to the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, last week, whereby all written representations received during the period allowed for representations to be made on the commission’s initial proposals will be published, and there will follow four weeks for comments on the representations. Indeed, we would wish the public hearings to which I referred kick in upon publication of the initial Boundary Commission proposals. The proposal in the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, emanated from recommendations from the British Academy report on the Bill, and we believe that it will provide scrutiny for the arguments put forward by others. These two changes—a public hearing stage, aimed at improving public understanding and letting the public have their say in the process, and a counter-representation period—represent substantial changes to the proposals that were initially in the Bill. I hope that the House will agree that the Government have been willing to show considerable flexibility and a willingness to accommodate reasonable concerns, reasonably expressed. We remain very happy to discuss the detail of how these proposals will operate—obviously with the noble Baroness who has proposed her amendment and with the official Opposition. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, and the noble Baroness will, in the light of what I have said, feel able not to press their amendments.