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Lembit Öpik: I beg to move amendment No. 1, in page 1, line 18, leave out from 'Officer' to end of line 19 and insert
'shall conduct an additional canvass in respect of such former electors.'.
The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Mr. Michael Lord): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment No. 2, in page 1, line 20, leave out subsections (2) to (4) and insert—
'(2) The power conferred by subsection (1) may only be exercised before 18th March 2005.'.
New clause 1—Rolling registration—
'(1) For the purposes of this Act, the last day for an elector to register under the rolling registration process shall be the day on which nominations for election close.
(2) An updated register shall be published no later than one week after the relevant date in subsection (1).'.
Amendment No. 4, in title, line 1, leave out
'in cases where required information is not provided'.
3.36 pm
Lembit Öpik: I wish to speak to the amendments tabled in my name and in that of my hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).
The Second Reading debate covered in fairly extensive detail the reservations that several of us have about the Bill as it stands. As our amendments and the subsequent amendments correspond to the discussions that we have already had, I do not intend to rehearse the broader issues but instead to focus specifically on the purpose of the amendments in order to seek a response from the Minister.
Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 would allow the chief electoral officer to carry out an additional canvass of the 81,000 people who were on the register in 2003 and did not re-register during the autumn canvass of 2004. The canvass would have to be completed by 18 March to allow time for an updated register to be produced for 1 April. That would concentrate the effort of encouraging people to register and get on to the list in time to vote. It would also achieve the benefit of the direct contact that we discussed before. We would hope to see a very vigorous campaign by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland to achieve that, including sending individual canvassers to call at the homes of each of these electors to persuade them to complete and return their forms. In stipulating the date of 18 March for the process to be completed, we anticipate that the register could be updated and published on 1 April. I recognise that that represents a significant requirement in terms of human resources, but since it is a one-off situation the
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cost will not be repeated. I am grateful for the Minister's assurance that this is not intended to set a precedent for the future.
I turn to new clause 1 and amendment No. 4. We were informed by Northern Ireland Office officials that the last day for people to register through the rolling registration process for inclusion on the register on 1 April would be 10 March. The new clause would extend that date to the day on which nominations for this year's council elections close. We anticipate that by that stage, with election fever in the air and a general election in the offing, people would be more concerned about whether they are on the register and more enthusiastic about completing their forms.
There would be an additional benefit in terms of the media, who will unquestionably be increasing their political coverage. I have seen some interesting projects to encourage voter participation. For example, in London, I recently did an interview with Virgin Radio, which is trying to increase public interest in matters that are discussed in Westminster. I am sure that that would have a more beneficial effect if the registration period were extended, as the new clause proposes.
The new clause has perhaps the added benefit of attracting more young people to register to vote. The Bill's carry-over proposals would not do much to tackle the problem of increasing the number of young people on the register. As we have already discussed, that figure is worryingly low—approximately 25 per cent. of those eligible to vote.
Amendments Nos. 1, 2, 4 and new clause 1 seek to provide a practical way of addressing some of the issues that we discussed on Second Reading. I look forward to the Minister's response.
Mr. Barnes: I have some sympathy with new clause 1 on rolling registration, given my long-term interest in the subject. When the Representation of the People Act 2000 was introduced, the Minister responsible for piloting it through the House was kind enough to call me the father of the rolling register.
In many ways, rolling registration is in its infancy. There is no reason why it should not be a much more rapid process. There should be many more arrangements in place to ensure that, when people move into areas, we have details of that and registration can be transferred almost immediately.
I also have sympathy with the notion of moving back the date for final registration. There may be a small defect in the drafting because, although the Bill is a short-term measure, which can exist for two years at most, I have always been conscious that the register should cease to roll when an election is called. The dates for local government elections are known well in advance, but with parliamentary elections, there is a danger that if a by-election were held, people would move into an area to distort the result. That could still happen if registration were left until the time of nomination. The qualifying date should always be when an election is announced in the case of parliamentary elections.
My right hon. Friend the Minister's point about the need to examine United Kingdom-wide provisions on rolling registration is important. Some Select Committees are examining electoral registration, and
24 Feb 2005 : Column 528
rolling registration is an important consideration in that. There is a point that we should consider even though it may be for the future. A good stimulator is not only the announcement of an election but immediate issuing of polling cards, which contain details of who is registered in a specific household. The polling card could state that, if the information were incorrect and people were missing, there would still be time to register, perhaps by, for example, the date of nomination. There is no reason why cards cannot be sent to homes where nobody is on the register, because some people in those homes might be entitled to register. There should be a late opportunity to do that.
Publicity—from the Northern Ireland Office in the context of the Bill and the Home Office on the mainland—could be pumped up at a specific stage and state, "Check now to see whether you're registered. Here is an opportunity, as long as you're qualified, to get on the register." I am therefore keen that development in that direction should be pursued. That does not mean that I go along with new clause 1, despite having such sympathy, as I see the faults and the need to engage in a United Kingdom-wide consideration of rolling registration.
3.45 pm
Andrew Mackinlay: Part of the problem regarding the rolling register is that one can register at any time under it, but one must still do so by the so-called qualifying date of 15 October. What "resident" is deemed to be is not spelled out adequately by the electoral registration office. That is so throughout the United Kingdom but particularly in Northern Ireland with regard to the group to whom I referred earlier—students who are away at university, often in Great Britain. They do not understand that they can be deemed to be resident in County Londonderry or wherever, even though they might be at university in Durham or Edinburgh in October.
Mr. Barnes: The rolling register has moved us away from the 15 October qualifying date requirement. When people move their residence to new areas, they can now go on to what used to be called the supplementary lists. At one time, there was an arrangement whereby people could only get on to the published monthly supplementary lists by meeting the qualifying date of 15 October, or September, I believe, in Northern Ireland. That changed under the 2000 Act to allow the register to roll during that period. The problem with that is the number of monthly stages and the period that must be fulfilled before that occurs. I would like a more continuing rolling register and much more rapid provision in relation to people moving to different areas. Help is required, as the last thing on the mind of anyone who moves home is whether they are on the electoral register—unless they are politicians. People are alerted to the issue when an election takes place, and if they have missed out, they should still be able to qualify otherwise. We need an opportunity to meet that.
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