– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 8 December 1949.
Mr Edwin Gooch
, Norfolk Northern
12:00,
8 December 1949
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to assist rural parishes financially in cases where the cost of parish council elections absorbs most of the parish's total yearly income.
Sir Frank Medlicott
, Norfolk Eastern
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that many parish councils have found it difficult to meet the increased cost of the parish council elections under the new procedure; and if he will take steps to provide financial or other assistance in this matter, especially to rural parish councils to whom this new expense is an appreciable burden.
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
I would refer to my answer to a Question by the hon. and gallant Member for the Eastern Division of Norfolk (Brigadier Medlicott) on 1st December, to which I can only add that I have no power to assist parish councils financially in this matter.
Mr Edwin Gooch
, Norfolk Northern
Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that it is rather disturbing to parish councils to discover that they have spent the whole of their yearly income on an election, and will he consider the possibility of passing on some suggestion to parish councils who desire to continue this democratic form of election to reduce the cost of the election?
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
The various fees which may be charged in connection with an election are fixed by the county council for the area concerned. I believe there is some occasion in some areas for that scale of fees to be considered.
Sir Frank Medlicott
, Norfolk Eastern
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the old arrangements worked perfectly well and the new arrangements are expensive, unnecessary and unpopular?
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
The organisation speaking for parish councils in the country had for a long time asked that the old method should be abandoned.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
