Clause 19 - Advice of the Electoral Commission
Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill
12:00 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 68, in
clause 19, page 10, line 28, leave out from 'if' to end of line 32 and insert 'the Secretary of State is considering whether to cause a referendum to be held in that region about the establishment of an elected assembly for the region.'.
The amendment would remove the Secretary of State's discretion on the Electoral Commission's recommendations about the appropriate electoral boundaries for a region that he has determined will elect a regional assembly. If local government boundaries are important, and the Government clearly think that they are—they have placed much emphasis on the need to conduct the local government boundary review ahead of the referendum—then so are the electoral boundaries in the regions.
The Minister argues that the regions he proposes are based on some community of identity. Although we will not have that substantive debate again, I suspect that Committee members would disagree with his proposition in relation to many of the proposed regions. Similarly, regional identities will not necessarily override more local senses of community and identity. It will be equally important to people in an area that has chosen to elect a regional government that the districting in the region—if I can use such a horrible word—reflects the communities and distinct identities of the sub-entities in the region. We think that it is important that the matter is handled properly in advance of a referendum. The same logic applies as the Government used in relation to the local government boundary review: the relevant action should be taken in advance of a referendum.
Electors must understand what they would get, in terms of local government structures and regional assembly constituencies, if they voted yes. That would be an important issue in many areas. In some regions, issues regarding urban-rural divisions would be raised—that has already been debated in this forum. Issues would also be raised about the representation of communities that might feel that they are distinct from other parts of a region. It is entirely legitimate for an elector to ask, prior to casting his vote, ''How will I be represented in the regional assembly? Will my representative be elected for a large neighbouring town and represent my village, or community, as an afterthought, or will I fall under a different arrangement of districts, where the community with which I identify is a predominant factor and force?''
Not everybody will be happy or satisfied with the outcome of these deliberations, but if the Minister's logic is that it is important that electors understand the local government structures that will apply post-
referendum, it is equally important for them to understand the regional electoral boundaries. Otherwise, the Government's sense of priorities is strange. The boundaries that apply to his region's elected assembly will be at least as important to an elector who is deciding whether he is in favour of elected regional assemblies as local government boundaries. I look forward to hearing from the Minister.