Speaker's
Committee Second Report 2005
Introduction
1. The Speaker's Committee is appointed in accordance
with the provisions of section 2 of the Political Parties, Elections
and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) to perform the functions conferred
on it by that Act. A summary of the principal statutory functions
of the Committee is given in Appendix 1.
2. By virtue of the provisions of paragraph 1(1)
of Schedule 2, PPERA, the Speaker's Committee is required to report
to the House of Commons, at least once in each year, on the exercise
by it of its functions. The last general report, covering the
period from 1 December 2003 to 30 November 2004, was published
in January 2005 as HC 255 of Session 2004-05.
3. The present report covers the general work
of the Committee from 1 December 2004 to the Prorogation of Parliament
on 7 April 2005.
Membership
4. Appendix 2 gives details of the membership
of the Committee over the period covered by this report. There
were no changes in membership in that period. The six appointed
members ceased to be members of the Committee when Parliament
was dissolved, but were eligible for re-appointment in the new
Parliament[1].
Meetings
5. The Committee met three times in the period
under review and the minutes of these meetings are reproduced
at Appendix 3. The Chairman and officials of the Electoral Commission
attended part of two of these meetings, at the invitation of the
Committee. The principal business, besides reviewing generally
the work of the Electoral Commission, was consideration of its
Main Estimate for 2005-06 and its Corporate Plan for the period
2005-06 to 2009-10. The Committee also gave further consideration
to the scope of its proposed review of the Commission.
Parliamentary Accountability
6. Mr Peter Viggers continued as the member appointed
by the Committee to answer parliamentary questions on its behalf[2].
In the 2004-05 Parliamentary Session, which was cut short by the
Dissolution of Parliament, 20 parliamentary questions were tabled
to the Committee for oral answer in the House in the four-weekly
periods of fifteen minutes shared with the Church Commissioners
and the Public Accounts Commission. 15 of these questions received
oral answers in the time available, with the remainder receiving
written answers. In addition, Mr Viggers answered 31 written questions
addressed to the Committee, a substantial increase on the total
for the previous Session.
Consideration of Estimates prepared by the Electoral
Commission
7. The Committee considered the Electoral Commission's
Main Estimate for 2005-06 in February 2005. It received statutory
advice from the Treasury, in the form of a letter from the Chief
Secretary, which it took into account when considering the Estimate.
It also had regard, as required by PPERA, to the Comptroller and
Auditor General's most recent statutory report on the economy,
efficiency and effectiveness with which the Electoral Commission
had used its resources[3].
8. The Estimate sought a Net Resource Requirement
of £24,101,000, and a Net Cash Requirement of £23,974,000.
The provision sought was significantly less than that sought in
respect of 2004-05, as it related solely to the Electoral Commission's
core functions. The Estimate included no specific provision for
expenditure on a national referendum on the European Constitution,
but the Commission informed the Committee that, should the Government
announce a decision to hold such a referendum, it would seek provision
for necessary expenditure in 2005-06 through a Supplementary Estimate.
9. The Committee approved the Estimate, without
modification, as consistent with the economical, efficient and
effective discharge by the Commission of its functions in 2005-06.
It had not been laid before the House when Parliament was dissolved[4].
The Commission's Corporate Plan for 2005-06 to
2009-10
10. The Committee also considered the Electoral
Commission's Corporate Plan[5]
for 2005-06 to 2009-10 in February 2005, taking into account the
statutory advice from the Treasury, again in the form of a letter
from the Chief Secretary, and the Comptroller and Auditor General's
report referred to in paragraph 7 above.
11. The Treasury commented that, while the way
concerns it had expressed last year about the number of targets
had been addressed were welcome, more work could be done to make
the remaining targets more focussed, and that many of the supporting
targets were still either expressed in terms of inputs and outputs,
rather than outcomes, or were not measurable, and that there remained
some lack of clarity of the absolute priority of specific objectives
for the Commission. The Chief Secretary also stated that he would
"urge the Commission to work over the course of the year
to tighten up the objectives in the plan, aiming for a set of
objectives and targets that is more similar in style to that of
a central Government department".
12. The Committee agreed with the sentiments
expressed by the Treasury, both as regards the progress that had
been made in improving the nature of the Plan compared with previous
years, and in terms of the scope for further improvement. It also
noted the Electoral Commission's intention to develop further
its focus and objectives as it moved beyond its start-up phase,
and the scope for the Committee's proposed review of the Commission
to play a part in developing the Commission's corporate planning
process.
13. On this basis, the Committee agreed that
the draft Corporate Plan for 2005-06 to 2009-10 submitted by the
Electoral Commission was consistent with the economical, efficient
and effective discharge by it of its functions over the five year
period, but has indicated to the Commission that it will expect
to see substantial progress in next year's Plan towards addressing
both its own and the Treasury's concerns.
14. The Corporate Plan was laid before the House
of Commons by the Speaker on behalf of the Committee on 24 March
2005 as HC 347 of Session 2004-05.
Other matters
15. On 1 December 2004, Mr Peter Wardle succeeded
Mr Roger Creedon as Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission.
At its meeting on 14 December 2004, the Committee formally designated
Mr Wardle, with immediate effect, as the Commission's Accounting
Officer, in succession to Mr Creedon.
16. The Committee would like to thank Mr Creedon
for his distinguished contribution to the work of the Electoral
Commission as its founding Chief Executive. It was pleased to
see his lifetime of public service recognised by the award of
a CBE in the New Year's Honours List.
17. In January 2005, the Committee agreed terms
of reference for the review of the Electoral Commission which
it referred to in its First Report, but the Dissolution intervened
before the review could be formally launched.
1 See paragraph 2(5), Schedule 2, PPERA. The five members
appointed by the Speaker were all reappointed by him for the present
Parliament on 24 May 2005. Back
2
On one occasion in the 2004-05 Parliamentary Session, another
member of the Committee answered oral questions in the House on
behalf of the Committee, Mr Viggers being abroad on Parliamentary
business. Back
3
The 2002-03 report, which was published by the Committee with
its First Report, 2004 (HC 924, Session 2003-04). Back
4
The Estimate was laid before the House by the Speaker, on behalf
of the Committee, on 25 May 2005 as HC 5, Session 2005-06. Back
5
The 'five-year plan' provided for at paragraph 15 of Schedule
1, PPERA, and which is required to accompany the Estimate. Back
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