Clause 30 - Discretion to report on certain elections
Electoral Administration Bill
10:15 am
Harriet Harman (Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Camberwell and Peckham, Labour)
Following the debate on the previous clause, I should say that the Bill would have been a classic case for pre-legislative scrutiny. However, we wanted to get the fraud measures in as soon as possible. We want to deliberate long and hard on some provisions; with others, we just wanted to get them on to the statute book. That explains the two speeds.
In reply to the hon. Member for Northampton, South, performance standards will be laid down and monitored by the Electoral Commission. I assume that the issues he mentioned would be part of those standards.
Clause 30 will give the Electoral Commission a power, but not a duty, to report on certain elections in addition to those that they must report on at present. Section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 requires the Electoral Commission to prepare and publish reports on the administration of certain elections and referendums, including parliamentary elections, European parliamentary elections, Scottish parliamentary elections, elections to the National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly and UK and regional referendums. There is presently no duty or power to report on by-elections to those bodies. The clause will therefore add a power to report on parliamentary by-elections as well as those to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. It does not mean that the Electoral Commission must prepare such reports but allows it to do so if it wishes. It is a sensible extension to the commission's powers that gives it the flexibility it feels that it needs to prepare reports when it considers them necessary.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 30 ordered to stand part of the Bill.