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Representation of the People (Form of Canvass) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006

We were asked about the differences between the England and Wales and the Scotland form by the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart. There are four differences. There is no jury exemption box. In both England and Wales and Scotland eligibility for jury service is dependent on a person being registered as a parliamentary or local government elector. In England and Wales the Jury Act requires registration officers to supply copies of the electoral register for the purpose of summoning juries, and to indicate on those copies persons who are aged over 70. The position in Scotland, where the age limit for jury service is 65, is different. That is one difference. The form refers to ““the electoral registration officer”” rather than ““local authority””. That is a small point relating to the structure of electoral registration administration in Scotland. It does not include a cross on the title because the election for local government in Scotland will be STV for 2007, and that requires marking not just a single cross. It was therefore felt that a cross was misleading, and it refers explicitly to the right of EU citizens to vote in the Scottish parliamentary elections. We were asked why EU citizens in the UK must complete a further form. EU citizens are all registered as local government electors, as they are able to vote in local government elections in the UK. However, citizens of an EU state resident here are not obliged to vote in European parliamentary elections in the UK, as they may wish to vote in the elections being held in their home state. Rather obviously, it is not possible for a person to vote in European parliamentary elections in more than one state. The noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, was concerned about the form with regard to people who are not eligible, and why they were being asked for their nationality. The simple point is that if a person says, for example, that everyone is French, the ERO can write back to say they can register. The information on the form will not be passed to any other government department. It is simply there as a way of being helpful to people who wish to register. It is not a sinister matter that needs to be worried about. Before the noble Lord gets up, he also said that the format of the nationality section is confusing. As with the point I accepted at the beginning from the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, we will look at that, because the intention is to make things very clear. If we are not succeeding in that matter, it is something we need to look at.