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Lady Hermon: Will the Minister take this opportunity to address the issue we raised about section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998? How does the Bill promote equality of opportunity between first-time younger voters and older voters who are already on the register?
Mr. Spellar: It is in the public interest that the register should be as comprehensive as possible, so we are undertaking a number of measures, for example in colleges, to try to increase registration among younger people. In this instance, we are also trying to maintain the strength of the register. In all honesty, no one could argue that it is undesirable to continue to add to the register people who should be included on it. It is open to all to register, and we have to try to facilitate the process wherever we can. As I said, we recognise that the Bill is not a universal solution, but it goes a considerable way towards addressing the problem.
Lady Hermon: I am grateful to the Minister for taking a second intervention on this important point. The Bill includes the imprint that it is compatible with the European convention on human rights—quite right, too; that is what we expect. The Minister will be well aware that under the convention the United Kingdom has an obligation to ensure free elections with no discrimination on any ground whatever. Can the Minister explain to the House how the Bill fulfils that obligation on this country?
Mr. Spellar: That argument is slightly reminiscent of one that was advanced against me on antisocial behaviour orders, so I paraphrase the words of Mr. Justice Girvan: it is open to all to register. That is the discrimination argument. The public policy argument is that we should facilitate as far as possible the most comprehensive electoral register. The fact that we are unable to achieve 100 per cent. registration is not an argument against trying to improve the percentage from the mid 80s to the low 90s. That is exactly right and it is indeed the burden of the Bill.
Mr. Trimble: The Minister says that he has dealt with the public policy argument and the discrimination argument. Perhaps he has. What he has not dealt with is the equality of opportunity argument, which is not that he should not undertake the measures in the Bill but that he should be taking equal measures to provide for those classes and individuals that the Bill does not cover. That is the point. Although he can point to some activity in reaching towards or identifying young people who were not previously registered, he will have some difficulty convincing the House that the measures that he is taking in that respect are equal to those he is taking in the Bill. He is not affording equality of opportunity in terms of section 75.
Mr. Spellar:
I should probably not have great difficulty in convincing the House, but I may have difficulty in convincing the right hon. Gentleman. I suspect that colleagues will find my arguments fairly convincing in terms of what we are doing to ensure
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greater participation in elections. As I outlined, we are already working with colleges, through the Department of Education. Indeed, the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Dodds) outlined some of the improvements that have taken place, with regard to access to forums and so on. That is not yet sufficient and there is more to be done, but we need to hold discussions with the political parties on how we can further develop registration, precisely to address a number of the groups that the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble) described. Improving that situation will involve us in work on the greater disclosure of data to the electoral registration officer.
On the point made by the hon. Member for Aylesbury on intimidation, the marked register shows only that a person attended a polling station. It does not indicate how they voted. In fact, a higher percentage of people in Northern Ireland vote by going to a polling station, which relates to the question about postal and proxy voting put by the right hon. Member for Upper Bann, to which I shall return in due course. The number of people voting by post or proxy has gone down from 41,000 to 27,000, which may have narrowed the scope for possible abuse. However, the marked register merely says that a person has attended the polling station, not whether they actually cast a vote. That is perhaps like the Spanish referendum, where a considerable percentage of voters took the trouble to turn up, but did not record a vote.
I take the compliment from the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire and others on the consultation, and I pay tribute to the work undertaken by my officials with parties in this House and in Northern Ireland.
The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire mentioned the significant problem, which political parties have raised with me, of those who think that they are registered. For example, people who registered for last June's elections for the European Parliament needed to re-register in August and September under the current provisions. People find that difficult to comprehend, and it undermines the procedure. I take the point made by the right hon. Member for Upper Bann about registration in August and September, which we must address when we examine the future pattern of registration and decide whether we should move towards a system of continuous registration.
In Britain, it is common for students who come from Surrey and who study in Edinburgh to be registered in two different places, whereas people in Northern Ireland must undertake individual registration. A disparity exists, and we are examining how to tackle it in future.
We shall examine the question of safeguards in Committee.
The hon. Member for Belfast, North rightly identified under-registration as a problem that has generated concern across the communities in Northern Ireland. That is an important point to stress.
About 100,000 identity cards have been issued. The elections in June saw a considerable reduction in the number of people who, for one reason or another, were unable to vote, and some such people were able to return to the polling stations later. There will be a further campaign to take the facilities around in order to maximise the number of people who have the necessary identity card.
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The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire raised his concerns about registration once an election is called, and we will deal with that issue when we discuss his amendment in Committee. One way to deal with those concerns would be to introduce UK-wide legislation concerning the relationship between the electoral register, the announcement of the election and the date of the election. Beyond that, I shall refer to a straightforward practical matter that reflects concerns expressed in this debate: if the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland receives a considerable tide of applications in addition to all the other work that it must do before an election, the scope for dubious applications to slip through might be increased, and we must bear that point in mind in striking that balance.
On security personnel, we recognise that members of Her Majesty's armed forces can register at their base for electoral purposes and that that provision does not apply to the police service or, as far as I can recall, to the Prison Service, which is a significant point in particular constituencies, and we must address it.
We must examine the additional list in order to identify more readily those who will be coming on to the register, and I will write to the hon. Member for Belfast, North tomorrow or early next week on that matter.
Mr. Dodds: On the ability of security force personnel to vote, in election after election the issue arises that members of the police service and the Royal Irish Regiment who have registered to vote and who want to vote, but who are on duty at a polling station other than the one at which they are registered, are denied the opportunity to register their vote. That issue comes up at every election. Representations are made, but the problems still occur. As we approach council and other elections, will the Minister undertake to ensure that that issue will not arise again in Northern Ireland?
Mr. Spellar: They may be eligible for a postal vote on the grounds of undertaking that duty, and I undertake to take the matter up with the chief electoral officer.
Mr. Trimble : To reinforce the point made by the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Dodds), this is a serious problem, and it may be necessary to go beyond the electoral officer. It could be solved by postal voting, but because of the nature of these services and the attitude of those who direct them, policemen and those in the Royal Irish Regiment are not being facilitated in that. That cannot be solved by the chief electoral officer, and the Minister should direct his inquiries to the police and the RIR.
Mr. Spellar: I certainly undertake to consider that matter within a time scale that will enable action to be taken.
I think I have dealt with most of the issues that were raised. I am sure that I have missed some, but we will be able to discuss them at a later stage. I am pleased with the positive way in which the debate has proceeded, which indicates that we are addressing a genuine problem. Of course there will be individual concerns, but I think that the broad thrust of the Bill is accepted. Accordingly, I commend it to the House.
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Bill accordingly read a Second time, and committed to a Committee of the whole House, pursuant to Order [this day].
Bill immediately considered in Committee.
[Mr. Michael Lord in the Chair]
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