Select Committee on Speaker's Committee Second Report


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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Prepared 27 July 2005