Brian Binley: Open access, albeit prescribed, is still at risk of corruption by people who wilfully wish to cause damage. Of course, there any many abilities to protect against that, but people will get around those measures. Can the Minister provide some details on security in the consultation document so that we might pursue that matter more thoroughly? That is a matter of concern to all of us, which...
Brian Binley: The Minister's point is fair and reasonable, but again the cost of ensuring that scrutiny can take place is higher in areas where there is more movement in the way that the Minister described. Will the Minister take that into account when we discuss grants for local government?
Brian Binley: I too wish to speak about money. One reason why electors send us to this place is so that we can ensure that care is taken in the spending of their money and that expenditure is properly scrutinised. I preface my remarks by saying that I am a local councillor. As I understand it, this is the only part of the Bill that deals with costs. I say this with some trepidation on the basis that you...
Brian Binley: I express my concern at the points my hon. Friend has made about the consultation document. I recognise how difficult it is for the Minister not to have the document, which is a vital piece of information that would have cleared up a number of the issues that we have started discussing. Sadly, we cannot clear those issues up, because we do not know what is in the document. I am concerned that...
Brian Binley: I take your guidance, Mr. O'Hara.
Brian Binley: My mind is now a little clearer. I am one of those elderly people who hark back to the A, B and C lists, and the ability to scrutinise matters relating to the register. I think that the Minister has set my mind at rest about whether the consultation document and the regulations will allow us to go into such detail in scrutiny. If an assurance is being given that that is so, I am more than...
Brian Binley: Before you do—
Brian Binley: Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that, very often, the people in question will have three or four pints outside any given zone before entering the zone and enjoying themselves further until they reach the point where they are beyond the pale? Does he accept that, in his terms, people outside the zone are equally culpable?
Brian Binley: The night is getting late, my mind is slowing down and the Minister speaks very quickly. Did the Minister say that there would be postal voting pilots for local council elections? If so, will he give a commitment that he will allow local government to decide whether or not it wants that pilot, or will it be done by Government edict?
Brian Binley: I am an old campaigner and, in the old days, as the Minister will know, we used to publish B and C lists. The whole concept of the register was open to scrutiny by everybody. That was one of the ways in which we maintained a fairness and credibility in the register of electors, which I was sorry to see go. As I understand it—there might be a built-in opportunity to do this—most...
Brian Binley: I take the Minister's point that everybody should have the right to vote, but surprising numbers of people are excluded because of incompetence and inefficiency. Can she assure me that she will review training to ensure that local government is properly equipped and resourced to undertake it?
Brian Binley: I am especially concerned about how databases are gathered. My business is the creation of databases, and I can tell the House that most of them are almost useless. Accurate information is vital to the election process, so I want to offer a word of warning that EROs should be wary about how it is collected.
Brian Binley: Will the Minister confirm that in his response to the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth), he said that he had not reduced ABRO's capability, but had increased its efficiency? If, as I believe, he said that, will he explain the efficiency measures that he has taken to allow the sizable reduction of 944 jobs while retaining the same capability, or is the...
Brian Binley: I was delighted to hear the Secretary of State say that he would continue to put money into railways where necessary. May I remind him of the sustainable communities project in which Northampton plays a major part and of the fact that the population there is about to increase by more than 50 per cent. to 100,000? It is our view that the plans put forward in that programme are not sustainable,...
Brian Binley: I am becoming rather confused. Does the hon. Gentleman want the Government to proceed with revaluation earlier than they intend, or does he think that they should do it after the next election?
Brian Binley: On the total tax take, as opposed to the vehicle for collecting tax, does my hon. Friend agree that the Government have deliberately forced up the total council tax take? Had they not done so, we would not have had anything like the recent problems with the collection system.
Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Bridgewater primary school to be built in Northamptonshire will have kitchen facilities.
Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what UK policy is towards Iran; and what changes have been made as a consequence of the deaths of British soldiers in which the Government said there was Iranian involvement.
Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK position is on the proposed United Nations Security Council resolution that would require the regime in Burma to work with the United Nations to restore democracy to Burma and release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience; and if he will make a statement.
Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the United Nations Security Council to give greater power to the UN investigation team to determine whether Iran is attempting to build an atomic bomb.