Scottish Parliament and the AV Referendum

Written evidence from the Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee (AV 12)

Note of informal meeting between the Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee and the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee – 30 September 2010

Members of Local Government and Communities Committee present:

Duncan McNeil MSP (Convener)

Bob Doris MSP (Deputy Convener)

Patricia Ferguson MSP

Alasdair Morgan MSP

Mary Mulligan, MSP

Jim Tolson MSP

John Wilson MSP

Members of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee present:

Ian Davidson MP (Chair)

Cathy Jamieson MP

Jim McGovern MP

Fiona O’Donnell MP

Alan Reid MP

Lindsay Roy MP

Background

The Scottish Affairs Committee recently organised an informal briefing from the Electoral Commission for all Scottish MPs, at which the issue of consultation on the date of the AV referendum was raised. The question was raised as to whether people in Scotland have been adequately consulted on the issue of the Scottish Parliament elections and a referendum being held on the same day.

The Scottish Affairs Committee has therefore invited individuals and organisations in Scotland to write to the Committee with their views on the date of the AV referendum and it is hoped that these responses will add to and inform debate during the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill Committee stage in the House of Commons in October.

The Scottish Affairs Committee visited the Scottish Parliament on 30 September to discuss this issue with the Local Government and Communities Committee. The Members of the two committees had a wide-ranging discussion on the implications for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2011 of the proposed AV referendum being held on the same day, as well as of the possible implications for the 2015 Scottish Parliament elections should the election to the House of Commons be held on the same day in 2015.

This paper details the main issues that were brought up by the members of the Local Government and Communities Committee. Previous consideration of electoral issues by the Local Government and Communities Committee is then briefly discussed at the end of this paper.

Issues Raised and Areas of Agreement

Discussion was split into two main areas. Firstly, the main focus of discussion concerned the implications for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2011 of the AV referendum being held on the same day, given that this is the focus of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee’s deliberations. Secondly, a briefer discussion was held concerning the implications for the 2015 Scottish Parliament elections and the 2015 House of Commons elections being held on the same day.

There was a consensus among the members of the Local Government and Communities Committee who were present at the meeting that the prospect of an AV referendum being held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections in 2011 raised a number of very serious concerns and that they therefore had reservations about the proposal. None of the Members present considered that an election and referendum on the same day would be in the interests of the electorate. Furthermore, they were of the view that it could potentially put at risk the credibility of the electoral process. The Local Government and Communities Committee members also considered that it was important to highlight potential problems arising from elections to the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons being held on the same day in 2015, rather than on an alternative date, at this stage.

AV Referendum

Issues that emerged from the discussion included the following:

· That the decision by the UK Government to hold the AV referendum on the same day as the Scottish Parliament election has been taken without any consultation of the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish political community or the Scottish electorate. There has been no formal consultation process with the Scottish political institutions (Scottish Parliament or Scottish Government), Scottish electoral stakeholders, Scottish civic society or the Scottish electorate more generally.

· That in the context of the Gould report, particularly with regard to voters not being given due consideration, that this lack of consultation is unfortunate and potentially counterproductive.

· Concern was expressed that the proposed AV referendum may dominate national (UK) media coverage during this period and therefore detract from the vital issues which are facing the Scottish Parliament and Scottish population. In particular, it was pointed out that the Scottish Parliament is currently facing significant cuts to the Scottish budget and the 2011 election will be a key means of communicating the choices that are available to the Scottish electorate. There was a concern that this might be overshadowed by the AV election.

· Given the experience of the 2007 election, there was widespread agreement about the need to build-in trust and certainty amongst the electorate and that this development could undermine that. In addition, it was important that the credibility of the electoral system should be rebuilt following 2007.

· It was noted that the Electoral Commission had stated that it would be possible to deliver the Scottish Parliament election and an AV referendum on the same day. However, concern was expressed by the Members present that whilst it may be technically possible to ‘deliver’ the election, that it is imperative that the election is delivered well.

· Particular concern was expressed that the problems experienced at the 2007 elections had disproportionate impacts upon particular sections of society such as deprived communities, those with poorer literacy and the elderly. Concern was expressed that an election and referendum on the same day could further exacerbate these trends.

· Given the concern that the Gould report had highlighted regarding a lack of understanding of the variety of electoral systems in operation in 2007, that an election and referendum on the same day could cause confusion.

· There was agreement that the combining of a party political choice at the Scottish Parliament election with a constitutional choice in terms of the AV referendum was far from ideal, given that the two polls would be dealing with a completely different set of issues. Moreover, were there to be cross-party campaigns on the AV referendum, then there could be politicians who would be arguing for the same proposition in terms of the AV referendum while at the same time competing on different platforms in the context of the Scottish Parliament election. It was considered that this could also create confusion amongst the electorate.

· There was general agreement that political party resources will be directed primarily towards contesting the Scottish Parliament election and that resources would not be used to campaign or inform the electorate with regard to the AV referendum.

· Concern was also expressed with regard to the logistics of combining the Scottish Parliament election with the AV referendum, particularly with regard to the use of postal voting and whether the two ballots might be placed in the one envelope, more generally the pressures which may be placed on the Royal Mail; which sets of activities will contribute towards election expenses and how this will be determined; that the AV count will be based on Scottish Parliament constituencies and not House of Commons boundaries despite concerning the electoral system for that institution.

· There was general agreement that with any referendum there is a danger of it being ‘contaminated’ by other issues at the same time. The Scottish Parliament election being held at the same time risks the potential for voters to cast their vote in the referendum with regard to issues which the referendum does not deal with and the result thereby being so ‘contaminated’.

· Concern was expressed regarding the wide variation in levels of voter registration, particularly with regard to low levels of registration in deprived communities. It was considered that there was a danger that combining the Scottish Parliament election with the AV referendum may further alienate the electorate and deter people from registering to vote. Given the importance attached by the Members present to maximising registration levels (and turnout) it was important that such dangers should be avoided.

· There was general agreement that if there was a desire to maximise turnout for the AV referendum and ensure that the electorate are fully aware of the issues at stake, then the referendum could be moved to September in a manner similar to the Scottish Parliament referendum in 1997.

2015 House of Commons Elections

· Concern was expressed at the lack of openness in the debate thus far regarding the potential for combined Scottish Parliament and House of Commons elections in 2015. Attention was again drawn to the Gould report and the concerns expressed in that report in relation to politicians making decisions about elections without due regard or involvement of the electorate.

· It was highlighted that the coupling of elections in 2015 would apply not just to the Scottish Parliament, but also to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly and a substantial proportion of English local government.

· There was general agreement that there was a need to have different cycles for Scottish Parliament and House of Commons elections. One way for this to be achieved would be for the House of Commons to move to a four-year electoral cycle, which would resolve the issue with the exception of European Parliament election. It was considered that the House of Commons moving to a four-year fixed term provided an opportunity to resolve this issue.

· There was widespread concern that a combined House of Commons / Scottish Parliament election would be held with different electoral systems and with different boundaries for the two elections (with new boundaries being in place for the 2015 House of Commons election). It was also noted the Scottish Parliament constituencies and House of Commons constituencies will cover different local authority areas and that this will result in a considerable task of co-ordinating polling stations and electoral processes for local authorities.

· Particular concerns were raised about the information that the electorate would receive from the media, particularly the broadcast media, if the House of Commons and Scottish Parliament elections were held on the same day. This could be confusing in terms of devolved policy areas. For example, UK news might focus on health issues but on the situation in England rather that in Scotland resulting in the Scottish electorate being misinformed through no fault of their own.

Previous work on elections conducted by the Local Government and Communities Committee

The Local Government and Communities Committee also considered that it may be of interest to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, during their deliberations, to consider previous work which the Committee has undertaken with regard to electoral matters.

Elections 2007

Most notably, during the current session (2007-11), the Committee undertook an Inquiry into the findings of the Gould report, looking at the findings of the report in relation to Scottish local government elections, which ran in parallel to the former Scottish Affairs Select Committee’s report into ‘the experience of the Scottish elections’1. The Local Government and Communities Committee’s report on ‘Elections 2007’ made a range of comments and recommendations including the following:

· The Committee endorsed the resolution of Parliament, in relation to the Gould report, which was: That the Parliament welcomes the Gould report, including the recommendation calling for the further devolution of executive and legislative powers to the Scottish Government and the Parliament for the administration of its own elections and the decoupling of future elections to this Parliament and Scotland's councils; calls on Her Majesty's Government and the Scottish Government to discuss, agree and publish a timetable for appropriate implementation of the report's recommendations having regard to the conclusions from both the Scottish Parliament's Local Government and Communities Committee and the House of Commons' Scottish Affairs Committee.

· That the Committee expects to have a scrutiny role with regard to the work of the Elections Steering Group and a chief returning officer, if appointed.

· Expressed concern that there should be effective consultation, engagement with the electorate and research and public information programmes if the danger of low turnout is to be avoided.

· That despite the rate of rejected ballot papers in the local government elections being lower than the Scottish Parliament election, the Committee expressed concern that the rate of rejected ballots remained unacceptably high.

· Expressed concern that the lower level of rejected ballots in the local elections compared with the Scottish Parliament elections may be due, in part, to voters believing they only had one vote and marking their ballot paper with an ‘X’ or a ‘1’ which would have been counted as a valid ballot paper.

· That it is essential that ballot paper design leads to a ballot paper that is both easy to complete and results in a fair reflection of the views of the voter.

· Recommended that the Scottish Government explore the greater use of postal voting as a means of improving voter participation, while bearing in mind the need to protect the integrity of the ballot.

· Considered that there should be more consistent and rigorous training of information officers, including equalities awareness training. Voter information campaigns should be improved by more use of public forums, and by holding events in schools.

· Would prefer that the overnight count for local elections should be retained.

· Considered that there should be agreed national standards on the display of spoilt ballot papers on screens at the count, where electronic counting is used.

A copy of the Committee’s report can be accessed at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/ /lgc/reports-08/lgr08-08.htm

Scottish Local Government Elections (Scotland) Act 2009

In addition, the Committee was the lead committee on the ‘Scottish Local Government Elections (Scotland) Act 2009’ which de-coupled local government elections from Scottish Parliament elections. The details of Parliamentary scrutiny of the Bill can be accessed at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/21-SLGelections/index.htm

Of particular interest may be the Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Bill:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/lgc/reports-09/lgr09-08.htm

Voter Turnout Seminar

In June this year the Committee jointly organised, with the Scottish Government, a seminar on voter turnout in Scotland motivated by the concerns Members of the Committee shared regarding this issue. The seminar considered Scottish, UK and International trends in voter turnout, the role of wider civic participation in encouraging turnout and the issue of voter registration. An overview of the session and a transcript of the main proceedings of the seminar can be accessed at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/lgc/inquiries/VoterTurnoutSeminar/index.htm

Future Work

It is likely that the Committee will be designated, later this year, as the lead Committee on the ‘Local Electoral Administration (Scotland) Bill’, when the Bill is introduced to the Scottish Parliament. This Bill is likely to place the current ‘Interim Electoral Management Board’, which was initially established to deal with the 2009 European Parliament elections, on a statutory footing and to extend the remit of the Electoral Commission to include Scottish local government elections.

4 October 2010