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Electoral Administration Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, for his well-targeted amendment. As he indicated, we discussed a similar amendment in Committee. I said then that I agreed with the spirit of the proposal, but I felt that the requirement for a formal evaluation was perhaps disproportionate, given that the CORE scheme orders will already be subject to affirmative resolution. Yet, since I said that I agree with the spirit of the proposal, and since the noble Lord has brought this forward again—I have had the benefit of discussing it with him as well, for which I am grateful—perhaps I may suggest a compromise. As the noble Lord knows and has indicated, under Section 6 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, the Secretary of State has the power to direct the Electoral Commission to produce a report on any subject. If the noble Lord were willing to withdraw his amendment, I could give a commitment that if an incremental approach is taken to implementation we will ask the commission to publish an evaluation of the initial scheme before we bring any subsequent order before Parliament. I think that that meets the noble Lord’s objective. I hope he will accept that my commitment is made on behalf of the Government—we will do it—and so will feel able to withdraw his amendment.