27.The purpose of this instrument is to implement an EU Regulation7 in Northern Ireland (NI) which requires all smartphones placed on the EU market to be capable of transmitting caller location in calls to emergency services. The instrument is necessary because NI remains subject to EU law by virtue of the NI Protocol.
28.Asked whether the Government had considered introducing an equivalent requirement for smartphones placed on the market in Great Britain, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) told us that having engaged with UK industry representative trade bodies, it did not see any reason to “mandate a technical requirement through legislation that is (i) already adopted in almost all new smartphones and (ii) is not directly related to product safety”. The Department said that it would keep its position under review.
29.According to BEIS, the European Commission’s assessment8 of the new requirement makes clear that the impact on mobile device manufacturers is expected to be minimal: the new requirement is targeted at mobile phones which enable Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and nearly all new smartphones currently on the market already have GNSS capability. BEIS added that in addition to supporting emergency services across the EU, the EU Regulation seeks to “support the full compatibility of devices sold in the Union with the Galileo system (the European Global Navigation Satellite System), and to encourage the uptake of Galileo-ready devices on the global market”.9
30.The purpose of this instrument is to postpone the poll date of the 2023 district council elections in Northern Ireland (NI) by two weeks from 4 to 18 May. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) says that this postponement is necessary as the counting of the returned ballot papers and the declaration of results if the elections went ahead on 4 May would span 5 and 6 May. This would clash with the coronation of King Charles III on 6 May. According to the NIO, conducting the count over the coronation weekend would be administratively challenging and could inhibit those who would otherwise wish to celebrate the coronation from doing so.
31.The NIO says that there was informal consultation with the five main political parties in NI. Three parties actively supported the change, and no party raised any objections. The Chief Electoral Officer for NI and the Electoral Commission also agreed with the postponement, as did the district Council Chief Executives in NI who act as deputy returning officers.
32.Asked why the local elections in England did not face the same challenge, the NIO explained that local elections in England are conducted using a ‘first past the post’ system, under which the count is quick and can be conducted on Friday 5 May. In contrast, local elections in NI use a proportional representation system of single transferable vote (STV). Under the NI STV system voters may express as many preferences as there are candidates on the ballot paper, requiring multiple count stages. The count in NI typically commences on Friday morning and, according to the Chief Electoral Officer for NI, takes a minimum of 19 hours to complete. The count of the last local elections in 2019 extended into the evening of the Saturday.
33.These instruments, and the associated Code of Practice,10 make changes to the ‘clandestine entrant’ system, which seeks to prevent people from entering the UK by hiding in or on a vehicle. The instruments:
34.Both changes are designed to deter illegal immigration and people trafficking which, the Explanatory Memorandum (EM) states, are “in many cases” the result of “criminal gangs and opportunistic migrants taking advantage of unsecured or poorly secured vehicles”. The EM states there were 3,838 incidents of clandestine entrants being detected in 2021–22.
8 European Commission, Commission Delegated egulation (EU) of 12.12.2018 supplementing of Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the application of the essential requirements referred to in Article 3 (3) (g) of that Directive in order to ensure caller location in emergency communications from mobile devices (25 February 2019, OJ L 55/1).
9 European Commission, Guidelines for compliance with delegated regulation (EU) 2019/320 (April 2021): https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/45707 [accessed 2 February 2023].
10 Home Office, Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalties—Draft Code of Practice (January 2023): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1128890/E02849352_Level_of_Penalty_Web_Accessible.pdf [accessed 2 February 2023].