First Minister's Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at 12:00 pm on 22 May 2008.
To ask the First Minister what progress the Scottish Government is making to take forward the recommendations contained in the Gould report on the May 2007 Scottish elections. (S3F-798)
Our response to the Gould report highlighted how we plan to progress Ron Gould's recommendations, and the fact that we are following all his recommendations.
We are currently consulting on decoupling the two sets of elections with a view to the next local elections being held in 2012, which seems to be emerging as the consensus position. We will publish proposals on a chief returning officer in the autumn, and will consult on how to implement the other detailed recommendations that pertain to this Parliament.
After the complete hash that the United Kingdom's Scotland Office made of last year's elections, Ron Gould and the Scottish Parliament have clearly stated that they believe that legislative competence for the running of our elections should be taken from Westminster and given to Holyrood. Given that it would be unthinkable in England if, say, the European Union were to dictate to Westminster how it went about elections to the House of Commons, does the First
As I was listening carefully to the question, I found it extraordinary that there were further murmurings from the Labour benches. I remind Labour members what they voted for on 10 January 2008, which was:
"That the Parliament"— that is, this Parliament—
"welcomes the Gould report, including the recommendation calling for the further devolution of executive and legislative powers to the Scottish Government and the Parliament for the administration of its own elections and the decoupling of future elections to this Parliament and Scotland's councils".
That was carried by 107 votes to 16—and, if I remember correctly, the Liberal Democrats supported the resolution but did not like the decoupling aspect.
We—the vast majority of this Parliament—believe that all of the Gould recommendations should be implemented. Whatever U-turns there might be in the Labour Party on the subject of augmented devolution, we want to implement those recommendations and believe that any Parliament worthy of its name is capable of implementing, enforcing and running its own elections, just as it is manifestly clear that the Scotland Office, under the leadership of somebody whose name I cannot remember, was totally unable to do so.
Given that the Gould report sought improvements to the integrity of the ballot in the polling station, will the Government actively consider my suggestion of having a letterbox-style slot cut into the rear panel of each polling booth, so that the voter can effectively post their ballot paper—whether folded or unfolded—straight into a secure ballot box behind the polling booth?
I have to say that I occasionally get surprised at First Minister's questions.
That suggestion will no doubt be part of the consultation exercise that is currently being pursued. I do not remember it being part of the Gould recommendations but, nonetheless, it needs to be properly considered and examined.
I call James Kelly.
Apologies, Presiding Officer, but my question is a constituency question.
I am sorry, Mr Kelly; your name came up in the wrong place. We will move to question 5.