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Local Elections (Ordinary Day of Elections in 2009) Order 2008

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 7 October be approved. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, we are today considering the draft of an order to move the date of the local government elections in England in 2009 from Thursday 7 May to the same date on which elections will be held across the United Kingdom for the European Parliament. As unanimously agreed by every state in the European Union, the elections to the European Parliament in 2009 must be held between 4 and 7 June. In the United Kingdom, we are planning to hold these elections on Thursday 4 June. An order under Section 4 of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 will shortly be made. As a result of this order, the 2009 election date for 34 principal councils in England will be moved. The councils are the 27 county councils in the remaining two-tier areas and seven unitary councils: Bristol City Council, the Isle of Wight County Council and the new unitary councils of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Cornwall, Shropshire and Wiltshire. The order will also move the elections in around 75 parish councils across England and on the Isles of Scilly. In addition, the order will move the elections for directly elected mayors to be held in 2009 in Doncaster, Hartlepool and North Tyneside. Stoke, too, had a mayoral election scheduled for 2009, but the people of Stoke voted last Thursday that there should no longer be a mayoral model there. Therefore, there will not be a mayoral election in 2009 and the existing mayor’s term of office will end on the fourth day after 4 June. In place of the mayoral model, the leader and cabinet model will be implemented, in accordance with the proposals drawn up by the city council. As approved by Parliament earlier this year, 1 April 2009 will see the implementation of nine new unitary councils. Of those nine new authorities, five—Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Cornwall, Shropshire and Wiltshire—are scheduled to have elections in 2009. The four new unitaries of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Durham and Northumberland held elections in 2008. As noble Lords may know, a particularly problematic situation has arisen in Cornwall. Let me explain. Following parliamentary approval of the restructuring orders in February this year, the Boundary Committee began electoral reviews of Cornwall, Shropshire and Wiltshire. Disappointingly, the committee has yet to publish its draft recommendations on Cornwall and has informed the county council that it will not be in a position to complete its review for elections on the new electoral arrangements in June 2009. All parties locally are in agreement that the first election to the new unitary authority should be on new electoral arrangements, including a new number of councillors. Therefore, although the 2009 elections order will apply to Cornwall County Council, my honourable friend the Minister for Local Government has indicated that he is currently minded to defer the elections in Cornwall. We will take soundings and consult those affected in Cornwall about the appropriate date for elections, which we expect will take place in October. The order has no effect outside England. In 2009 there are no local elections for councils in Scotland and Wales. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has indicated that he will shortly bring forward legislation that seeks Parliament’s approval to postpone the 2009 local elections in light of the planned restructuring of local government. This order represents an important change, which will affect the 18 million people who will be eligible to vote in the local elections scheduled for 2009. Approximately 2,000 seats on principal councils will be contested. All electors in the UK will be eligible to vote in the European elections, and 72 Members of the European Parliament will be returned. It is important to stress that this change has been founded on clear and extensive consultation. Our 12-week consultation on whether the local elections should be moved closed on 11 August, by which time we had received 278 responses. This included representations from the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Local Government Association, nearly 200 councils and a number of the political parties. Few were opposed to the proposal for the elections to be held on the same day. On 7 October, I placed in the Library a copy of our report, which summarises consultees’ views, sets out the Government’s response to the issues raised as part of the consultation and provides the rationale for the change. Some concerns were raised that, due to increased complexities in the administration of elections and the possible risk of voter confusion, the local elections should not be moved. Based on the responses that we received from, among others, the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators and local authorities responsible for administering elections, I am confident that local authorities and the suppliers with which they work will have the capacity to manage local and European elections held on the same date in June next year. I am also sure that, following the recent legislative changes that the Government have brought forward, sufficient work has been done to raise public awareness, which will reduce risks of voter confusion both at the ballot box and when distinguishing between the different issues on which people are being asked to vote. However, despite these concerns being raised, the results of the consultation were conclusive, as I said. Moving the date of the local elections to the date of the European Parliament elections in 2009 is supported by the great majority of those who responded to our consultation. I am pleased to say that the Conservative Party stated in its response that, in the context that it spelt out, "““the Conservative Party will not oppose the proposals on the consultation paper””." It added that, "““this should not be taken as an endorsement of combined elections as the norm””." The Local Government Association and many councils supported the move to holding the elections on the same day. The Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators shared the view that the date of the local elections should be moved, provided that certain practical issues were addressed. Why are we proposing to move the local election dates? There are four reasons. First, holding the local and European elections on the same day will be more convenient to voters, who will have to visit the polling station once rather than twice in a four-week period. We think that this will mean that more voters are likely to participate in the elections, which would be a very good thing. Secondly, having both elections on the same day will avoid the start of the European election period overlapping with the end of the local election period. Were there to be such an overlap, it could be confusing for voters. One has only to reflect on the possibility that, a few days before voting in the council elections, voters might receive a new poll card with different details for the European election in the next month. We need to reduce and remove confusion. Thirdly, holding two elections on the same day will reduce the costs incurred by local authorities, returning officers and political parties in distributing election material, contacting voters, canvassing and holding the polls. It will be more efficient and cost-effective. Fourthly, holding the two elections on the same day is not only more efficient but likely to be more effective democratically. It will enable those responsible for voter awareness campaigns, particularly local authorities, to concentrate their efforts on increasing the awareness of one single election day. As I said, I think that that means that people will be more likely to turn out and vote. We all want to see increased participation. It is our firm belief that both the local elections to councils and the European Parliament elections are important opportunities for the people of this country democratically to choose those who, in one way or another, will be responsible for decisions that will have a major impact on their day-to-day lives. We have debated the role of local government many times in this House. We all agree that councillors provide strategic leadership to their communities. They deliver local services but, with partners, they have a central role to promote and secure economic prosperity. No task today is more challenging or more central to the concerns and interests of every local elector. Equally, the European Parliament is not some irrelevant, distant body with no impact on people’s day-to-day lives; quite the contrary, it is part of the decision-making arrangements for tackling those big issues—the environment, climate change, trade and employment—which affect the quality of life of everyone in this country and which can only be successfully tackled by working together at a European level. Good EU legislation has removed barriers across Europe and raised social and environmental standards. In short, it is recognition of the importance of both elections that has led us to conclude that they should be held on the same day. Past evidence shows that it is right for local and European elections to be held on the same day. That is clearly demonstrated by the experience of the elections in 2004, when both were held on 10 June. The result was a significant increase in voter turnout. For the European elections in 2004, the voter turnout was 38.5 per cent compared to 24 per cent previously. For the 2004 district council elections there was again a significant increase— 41 per cent compared to 30 per cent for the previous equivalent elections, held in 2000. The Electoral Commission reflected that by saying that, "““combining the European Parliamentary elections with local and London Mayoral and Assembly elections was an important factor in the improvement in turnout””." However, I recognise that the Scottish elections in 2007, when two elections were held together, resulted in a number of problems. An independent review of the Scottish elections was conducted by Ron Gould, who made a number of recommendations in October 2007. We have taken them into account in our decision about combining the date of the elections. The Electoral Commission also concluded that the 2009 local elections should be held with the European elections and stated in its response that it was difficult to see how holding two elections four weeks apart was in keeping with the Gould report’s overarching theme of putting the elector first, especially as Gould recommended that the decoupled elections be held one year apart, fearing voter fatigue if the elections were any closer together. We are only too aware of that in this Committee. This draft order makes provision to address those issues. Most importantly, it provides, as proposed by many of those who responded to the consultation, for the European parliamentary elections in England to be administered by reference to local authority areas, not, as currently, by reference to parliamentary constituencies. It also provides that the local returning officer for those elections will be the person who administers local elections in that area. The order also addresses a number of other consequential issues which those responding to the consultation suggested should be addressed. It contains the necessary provisions to enable elections to parish councils to take place alongside the principal council and European elections in June. It extends the term of office for sitting councillors and mayors. It provides that, from 7 November 2008, no by-elections will be required to fill casual vacancies of councils with elections in 2009. It also provides for annual meetings of joint authorities and parish councils to take place at a date later than currently required by statute. To sum up, the order is widely supported, and there are clear and compelling reasons to hold both elections on the same day. It is an approach strongly supported by evidence, including from the 2004 elections. I commend the order. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 7 October be approved. 27th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.—(Baroness Andrews.)