Clause 5 - CORE schemes: supplemental
Electoral Administration Bill
12:00 pm
Brian Binley (Northampton South, Conservative)
The Minister is aware that the clause deals with the relationship between the CORE keeper—I still see him in a pointed hat—and the electoral registration officer. It suggests a sizeable change in the command structure and independence of the electoral registration officer. I am not arguing that that is necessarily a bad thing. The differences in performance and ability of our electoral registration officers is one of the problems that we must deal with quickly. However, I want an explanation of how the relationship between the CORE keeper and the electoral registration officer will work, whether there are any authoritative channels that impact on local decision making and whether the CORE keeper will again have an input on scrutiny. As the Minister knows, I believe that scrutiny, particularly local scrutiny, is an important way of keeping the electoral register as shining white as possible. It is one of those matters that we have given way on and forgotten in recent years.
I should be most grateful if the Minister could explain more about the relationship between the CORE keeper and the electoral registration officer, tell us whether there will be direct managerial responsibilities and explain how that might help local scrutiny of the electoral register.