House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 23 May 2005 (pt 12)

23 May 2005 : Column 40W—continued

Election Arrangements

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to hold future (a) all-postal and (b) e-voting pilot schemes in local elections. [1109]

Ms Harman: I have been asked to reply.

The Government themselves have no powers to hold pilot elections, however, we remain committed to the goal of multi-channel elections sometime after 2006. We have not closed the door on all-postal voting, but have no current plans to roll it out as the default position. We envisage voter choice including e-voting channels.

The Secretary of State is obliged by law to consider any application from a local authority to pilot innovative voting methods and we will consider them on a case by case basis.

Electoral Administration

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations the Government have received from the Electoral Commission on consolidating responsibility for the administration of referendums and elections in one Government Department. [30]

Harriet Harman: The Electoral Commission made such a representation in its December 2004 report, "Delivering Democracy?". The hon. Member will be aware that the Government announced on 20 May that policy on the conduct of local government and mayoral elections in England and Wales and mayoral referendums in England transfers to DCA from ODPM with immediate effect, to place responsibility for elections and referendums policy in one Department.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the decision was taken to charge 10p per page for copies of the marked register from the 2005 general election; what the equivalent charge was at each of the previous two elections; and what discretion Pickfords Records Management has to decide on what to charge. [90]

Harriet Harman: Fees for copies of the marked registers are set by the Clerk of the Crown, with agreement by HM Treasury, as required under Rule 57(3) of schedule 1, the Representation of the

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People Act 1983. The charge per copied page is not 10p. Pickfords Records Management do not have any discretion as to what to charge.

For a breakdown of charges, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald). The charges are the same as they were for the 2001 general election. The 1997 general election charges were:

A4 per page—30p

A3 per page—35p

Handling charge—£8

Packaging—50p

Postage—at cost

Electoral Registration

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what role the Department plays in the administration of referendums and elections. [29]

Harriet Harman: The Department is responsible for policy and legislation relating to the conduct of all national elections; national and regional referendums; local government and mayoral elections in England and Wales; and mayoral referendums in England.

Legal Aid

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the departmental expenditure on legal aid in asylum and immigration cases was in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02, (c) 2002–03, (d) 2003–04 and (e) 2004–05; and what the budget allocation was for each year. [304]

Bridget Prentice: The departmental expenditure ¹ , in cash, on legal aid in immigration and asylum cases in England and Wales for each of the respective years was as follows:

¹ It is now practice to quote expenditure/budgets in resource terms. However, since the question covers years prior to the adoption of resource accounting the answer has been given in cash terms for the purpose of continuity.

£ million

2000–01 81.1

2001–02 129.4

2002–03 ⁽¹⁴⁾⁽¹⁵⁾176.2

2003–04 ⁽¹⁴⁾⁽¹⁶⁾200.5

2004–05 ⁽¹⁴⁾⁽¹⁷⁾177.2

⁽¹⁴⁾ Administration expenditure covers all policy and operational resource costs attributed to immigration and asylum.
⁽¹⁵⁾ Including £3 million for administration.
⁽¹⁶⁾ Including £4.5 million for administration.
⁽¹⁷⁾ Including £5.9 million for administration.

	£ million
2000–01	81.1
2001–02	129.4
2002–03	⁽¹⁴⁾⁽¹⁵⁾176.2
2003–04	⁽¹⁴⁾⁽¹⁶⁾200.5
2004–05	⁽¹⁴⁾⁽¹⁷⁾177.2

Before April 2003 there was no separate, specific budget set for expenditure on immigration and asylum matters. Basic advice and representation before the Immigration Appellate Authorities was included within the overall budget for controlled work and representation in the courts for judicial reviews and appeals was included within the budget for licensed

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work generally. From 1 April 2003, in cooperation with the Home Office, we set up a single asylum fund (SAF) to improve overall control of immigration spend. The Legal Services Commission's allocations from SAF budgets for 2003–04 and 2004–05 were £186 million and £143.2 million respectively. The figures given in the table for expenditure in these years form part of the SAP budget.

Marked Electoral Registers

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the new arrangements for the handling and storage of marked electoral registers at Pickfords. [96]

Harriet Harman: The marked electoral registers produced at the 2005 General Election are being stored by Pickfords Records Management at their site in Bow, London. Pickfords are storing them on behalf of the Clerk of the Crown, and will be administering the inspection and purchasing of the registers, as set out under electoral law.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the fees structure for accessing marked electoral registers is. [97]

Harriet Harman: The fees structure for purchasing copies of the marked electoral registers have been set by the Clerk of the Crown, with agreement by HM Treasury, as required under Rule 57(3) of Schedule 1, The Representation of the People Act 1983.

For the 2005 General Election they stand at 35p per copied page of A4, an £8 handling charge, and postage and packaging at cost.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the eligibility requirements for granting access to marked registers are. [26]

Harriet Harman: The eligibility requirements for granting access to the marked electoral registers are set by the Clerk of the Crown through his powers under Rule 57, Schedule 1 of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

The Clerk of the Crown will shortly be publishing a decision report, which sets out the conditions for granting access to the marked registers. This report has been agreed by both the Speaker of the House of Commons and HM Treasury, as required under Rule 57, and will be made available in the Library of each House.

Postal Votes

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many postal vote applications there were in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and how many instances of third parties returning postal votes were recorded in each year in each constituency. [341]

Harriet Harman: The House of Commons Paper "Election Expenses" (HC 260, Session 1998–99) provides details of the number of postal voters at the 1997 general election in each constituency. The

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independent Electoral Commission's report "Postal votes, proxy votes and spoilt ballot papers at the 2001 general election" provides information on the number of postal ballots issued at the 2001 general election in each constituency. Copies of these publications are in the Library of each House. Information about third parties returning postal votes is not recorded.

Information about postal votes at the 2005 general election will be included in the Electoral Commission's report on participation and turnout, to be released later in the summer.

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the (a) turnout of voters registered with postal votes, (b) turnout of voters voting by means other than postal vote and (c) overall turnout was in each constituency in the general election of (i) 1997, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2005. [342]

Harriet Harman: The House of Commons Paper "Election Expenses" (HC 260, Session 1998–99) provides details of the number of postal voters and the number of returned postal votes at the 1997 general election in each constituency. It also provides the overall turnout in each constituency at the general election.

The independent Electoral Commission's report "Postal votes, proxy votes and spoilt ballot papers at the 2001 general election" provides the percentage of returned postal votes at the 2001 general election in each constituency. The Electoral Commission's publication "Election 2001 The Official Results" provides the overall turnout in each constituency at the general election.

The turnout of voters voting by means other than postal vote is not recorded separately.

Copies of these publications are in the Library of each House. Information about postal votes and turnout at the 2005 general election will be included in the Electoral Commission's report on participation and turnout, to be released later in the summer.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate the Government have made of the cost to public funds of postal voting in the (a) European parliamentary elections in 2004 and (b) General Election in 2005. [95]

Harriet Harman: The Government do not yet have firm estimates for the cost of postal voting in the elections referred to.

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