Clause 8
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
10:45 am
Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I shall speak to amendment No. 9, which may sound a little heavy-handed and bureaucratic. However, I refer the Committee back to our debate on the Floor of the House about the control that the Secretary of State might have over the chief electoral officer and the concern that was expressed at the time. I refer to the opportunity for the Secretary of State to cancel a canvass of the electorate that might be recommended by the chief electoral officer, and the fact that his reasons for cancelling such a canvass are apparently covered by the words “in the public interest”. We did not receive a satisfactory explanation of that phrase.
The chief electoral officer can be dismissed for the reasons set out in the Bill. According to clause 8(5)(d), those include if
“he is unable or unfit to carry out his functions.”
That could be considered slightly vague. In the context of Northern Ireland, in particular, it is important to have a chief electoral officer with some degree of autonomy and independence. I am concerned that that will not be the case under the arrangements that have been made.
I will not try the patience of the Committee by going over the ground that we covered on the Floor of the House, as hon. Members will be familiar with what was said. However, if relations become strained between the Secretary of State and the chief electoral officer, it should be made public why the Secretary of State feels the need to dismiss the chief electoral officer. It seems a bit bureaucratic to lay the report before the Houses of Parliament, but I do not think that it would take up a great deal of the Secretary of State’s time. There are not many changes taking place with regard to drawing up the list of electors, but transparency and, more importantly, confidence in the process in Northern Ireland are essential. That is my motivation in introducing amendment No. 9.