---

Church of England (Charitable Status)

19. Hugh Bayley (City of York) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the charitable status of the Church of England. [166161]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy): With permission, I shall answer Church Commissioners questions on behalf of the Second Church Estates Commissioner, my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Sir Stuart Bell).

The Church of England embraces many legal entities of various kinds that fulfil the legal requirements for charitable status. For example, the Church Commissioners are such a body.
 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 16
 

Hugh Bayley : In view of the great problems of insolvency at Bradford cathedral, and the difficulty that those have caused for my constituents, who have not been paid a debt of more than £100,000, does my hon. Friend agree that all Church of England bodies, including cathedrals, should be regulated as strictly as registered charities? In order for that to take place, existing charity law needs to be amended, as I hope that it will be in the forthcoming charities Bill.

Mr. Lammy: The Church of England is committed to seeing that all charities, including religious bodies, are adequately regulated. My hon. Friend has indicated that the Government hope to produce a draft bill on charities legislation in this Session and I know that the Church of England and the Archbishops Council are in close dialogue with them on such matters. We hope to see progress in due course.

Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York) (Con): What would be the consequences of a church within the Church of England becoming insolvent and going bankrupt?

Mr. Lammy: The hon. Lady will be aware of the different status of the various church bodies within the Church of England. The issue of cathedrals has caused interest in the House. The Cathedrals Measure 1999 means that cathedrals have greater transparency, accountability and compliance. That legislation came into place subsequent to some of the problems raised by my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley).

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

The hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, was asked—

Postal Voting

20. Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate) (Con): If he will invite the commission to examine the potential effect on the electoral process of incumbent elected representatives using resources available to them by virtue of their office to seek to register voters for postal votes. [166162]

Mr. Peter Viggers (Gosport) (Con): If my hon. Friend cares to put that suggestion to the chairman of the Electoral Commission, I am sure that it will give it due consideration. The commission recently published a draft code of conduct for political parties, candidates and canvassers on the handling of postal voting applications and postal ballot papers, the impact of which will be assessed following the election scheduled for June.

Mr. Blunt : I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer. I have already put my suggestion to the commission and hope that he will add his voice, in his representative capacity, to my call for it to be considered. Does he accept that there is a serious potential for abuse if incumbents, when choosing those of their constituents whom they are going to invite to
 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 17
 
take postal votes, use resources available to them through their incumbency? Will he more widely invite the commission to examine the whole issue of unfair advantages that come to incumbents through the resources available to them from their office, as far as future elections are concerned?

Mr. Viggers: I am sure that we all want to encourage the maximum use of postal votes, but that must be done within appropriate rules. If my hon. Friend is referring to rules relating to the use of parliamentary stationery, that is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms.

Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East) (Lab): My constituency will vote entirely through postal votes. I am concerned that 7,500 people have disappeared from the current register when compared with the previous register. What evidence has the hon. Gentleman got that local authorities are doing spot checks to ensure that as many people are on the current register as there should be?

Mr. Viggers: This is a slightly different point, as I think the hon. Gentleman would accept. The commission is seized of the necessity of ensuring that the register is as complete and up to date as possible, and has made recommendations to the Government on that basis.

Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD): The Electoral Commission received considerable publicity for its proposals on the age of voting and perhaps rather less publicity for two rather important documents: the draft code of conduct for political parties, candidates and canvassers, mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, and "Perceptions of Electoral Fraud in Great Britain", both of which are relevant in the light of the recent successful prosecution of a councillor—Conservative, as it happens—in Guildford for electoral fraud. Is it not the case that the draft code of conduct should be in the hands of every candidate and electoral agent before the start of the electoral process, so that they are clear about what they are expected to do in the handling of registration of postal votes and, more importantly, what they are expected not to do?

Mr. Viggers: The draft code was published last Friday. It is my understanding that a copy was sent to each hon. Member. The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, however. Every candidate should have access to guidance from the Electoral Commission, and I shall pass that point on to it.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

The hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

Bishops' Drivers

21. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con): If he will make a statement on the policy of the Commissioners concerning the provision of drivers for use by bishops. [166163]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy): I have been asked to reply.
 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 18
 

The Church Commissioners continue to fund drivers for bishops when there is a need. This helps to ensure the best use of a bishop's energy and time, on which many calls are made.

Michael Fabricant : I am grateful for that reply and it makes sound sense to me. Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in dioceses such as Lichfield, for example, hundreds of square miles need to be covered, reaching right up to the Welsh border? Will he resist those envious voices who say that bishops should not be provided with drivers? Perhaps before they lose their drivers, Ministers, who just use their cars to drive from one end of Whitehall to Parliament—I am not, of course, referring to the hon. Gentleman—should lose their drivers first.

Mr. Lammy: The hon. Gentleman is right that bishops' commitments are many and varied, and they often work from early in the morning until late at night. By definition, they work seven days a week. The Lichfield diocese is large, and I am sure that when the commissioners look at the bishop's circumstances they will bear that in mind.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

The hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, was asked—

Electoral Registration

22. Mr. Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab): What plans the commission has to reform the process of voter registration. [166164]

Mr. Peter Viggers (Gosport) (Con): The commission published a report last year on the electoral registration process that made a number of recommendations to the Government on changes to the law and identified good practice in the management of the registration process.

Mr. Love : In the three years to 2003, more than 3,700 electors disappeared from my register. In some areas, the proportion on the register is estimated to be less than 90 per cent., yet in a written parliamentary reply I was told that statistics are not kept nationally on people prosecuted for not returning an electoral registration form. Does the Electoral Commission think that the prosecution of people who have not returned electoral registration forms plays a role in the effort to increase the numbers eligible to vote?

Mr. Viggers: The commission does not have an enforcement role in electoral registration, so does not hold figures on prosecutions. The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, but as the commission does not have an enforcement role at present, it is difficult for it to act. I am sure, however, that it will consider the hon. Gentleman's point carefully.
 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 19
 

---