Clause 8 - Provision of information to voters
Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill
12:00 pm
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State (Local and Regional Government), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
I hope that I can reassure the hon. Members for Runnymede and Weybridge and for South-West Devon (Mr. Streeter) that they have no reason to be as alarmed by the provision as they appear to be. They know that the clause relates to the
provision of information for voters and is a safeguard against circumstances in which there may not be a designated yes and no campaign. In such situations, the Electoral Commission will be able to provide neutral and informative information to electors. I think that we would broadly agree that that is a desirable outcome.
Section 109(2) of the 2000 Act sets a standard period of 28 days from the start of the referendum period in which permitted participants must apply to the Electoral Commission to be designated as organisations to which assistance such as grants will be available. Permitted participants could include a campaign group that has notified the Electoral Commission, under section 106 of the 2000 Act, of what it is and what result in a referendum it stands for.
Section 109 sets a standard period of 14 days after the end of that 28 days within which the Electoral Commission must determine applications for assistance as a designated organisation. However, section 109(6), to which the hon. Member for South-West Devon alluded, also allows for an order to be made to vary those periods—they can be shorter or longer. There are several circumstances in which that might apply. For example, were a referendum to be held over a period in which there were one or more bank holidays—for example, one that occurred early in the new year, so that the referendum period covered the Christmas and new year holidays—the Electoral Commission might feel that it did not have sufficient time within the 14-day period adequately to consider whether there were two organisations that should be registered. That is one possible eventuality. I shall leave it at that, unless the hon. Gentleman would like me to give more examples.