Clause 8
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
10:30 am
Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I have just agreed to the programme motion, but I do not intend to fill both sittings, although if we need to do so, we shall. I do not want to drag debates out, so I shall speak briefly to the amendment, which is intended to probe the Minister.
I have mentioned in the Chamber the fact that the police ombudsman, for example, is appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, no doubt on the recommendation of the Secretary of State. However, the chief electoral officer is to be appointed by the Secretary of State. We had a long debate on that issue on the Floor of the House during discussion of a separate amendment.
I was concerned that there could be a rather incestuous relationship between the Secretary of State and the chief electoral officer. It particularly concerned me that, in circumstances that were not clearly defined—they were defined by the words “public interest”—the Secretary of State would have the power to cancel a canvass of the electorate if he felt that appropriate.
We could not satisfactorily tease from the Minister the circumstances in which it might be in the public interest to cancel such a canvass. I have tabled the amendment to explore the situation again and ask the Minister why it is appropriate for the Secretary of State to make the appointment. That seems inconsistent with other, similar appointments.