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Adjournment debate on Wednesday, 3 February 2010, in the House of Commons, led by David Wilshire. The answering member was Lord Wills.

Returning Officers (Accountability)

Westminster hall adjournment debate on the accountability of returning officers.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
505 c73-98WH 
Session
2009-10
Department
Ministry of Justice
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 505 c73WH (Link to this contribution) There is a slight problem in that there is about half a minute's difference between the time shown o...
Speaker | 505 c78WH (Link to this contribution) Order. That intervention should be a question, not the speech that the hon. Gentleman hopes to make ...
Show all contributions (83)
David Cairns | 505 c78WH (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman up to a point.
Bob Spink | 505 c77WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman share my concern that those performance standards do not include the returni...
David Cairns | 505 c76WH (Link to this contribution) It would be a parliamentary tragedy if my hon. Friends' contributions were lost to posterity, and I ...
Speaker | 505 c76WH (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Member for Inverclyde answers—this is nothing to do with what has just been s...
Geraldine Smith | 505 c75-6WH (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree with Mr. Speaker that we should have instant, and not slow-motion, democra...
David Cairns | 505 c75WH (Link to this contribution) I do. The high-handed and arrogant approach taken by the returning officer in Chorley is simply unac...
David Cairns | 505 c77WH (Link to this contribution) We always say these things in debates because we are being nice to each other, but my hon. Friend ha...
Chris Ruane | 505 c77WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend was indeed the Minister who helped to introduce the performance standards that are in...
David Cairns | 505 c77WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. It is down to resources, and the importance and priority that councils atta...
Brian H Donohoe | 505 c76WH (Link to this contribution) One of the most obscure issues is this: why can Sunderland, for example, announce the result at abou...
Lindsay Hoyle | 505 c75WH (Link to this contribution) I have had concerns about Chorley. The chief executive issued a statement saying that if the local e...
David Cairns | 505 c75WH (Link to this contribution) I do not know the answer to that question, and I look forward to the Minister's elucidation.
Bob Spink | 505 c75WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right to bring the issue before the House, and his debate is timely. I agree t...
David Cairns | 505 c73WH (Link to this contribution) You need to call the Whip, Mr. Wilshire.
David Cairns | 505 c73-4WH (Link to this contribution) Good morning, Mr. Wilshire. I thought that you were attempting to keep my hon. Friend the Member for...
Speaker | 505 c73WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry. You can see the state I am in this morning. I consider myself told off.
David Cairns | 505 c74WH (Link to this contribution) I was not aware of that, although perhaps I should have been as an Islington council tax payer. I am...
Chris Ruane | 505 c74WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. He is right that there is no political interfe...
David Cairns | 505 c75WH (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend's conclusion, and what he describes has been custom and practice for gen...
Brian H Donohoe | 505 c74-5WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. He conceded that the count is manag...
Geraldine Smith | 505 c81WH (Link to this contribution) My biggest concern is about the security of the ballot boxes when they are left overnight. We need a...
David Cairns | 505 c81WH (Link to this contribution) I will address it as soon as I have taken an intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Morecam...
Brian H Donohoe | 505 c81WH (Link to this contribution) The issue that I discussed with my returning officer was the authorisation and validation of the pos...
David Cairns | 505 c81WH (Link to this contribution) I was going to say that it was never to be repeated, but that is not quite our line. I am sure that ...
Tom Harris | 505 c81WH (Link to this contribution) Was it a new dawn that had broken?
David Cairns | 505 c80-1WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend asks from a sedentary position how much extra. I know that my hon. Friend the Member ...
David Cairns | 505 c79WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend proves something that I mentioned earlier—that what gets measured gets done. If there...
Bob Spink | 505 c79WH (Link to this contribution) Another difficulty is the relationship of CEOs—they generally act as returning officers—with the con...
David Cairns | 505 c80WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman pre-empts my very next sentence. As well as an inspection regime that is properly...
Lindsay Hoyle | 505 c79WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is generous in giving way. It concerns me that returning officers are self-assessed. ...
David Cairns | 505 c79WH (Link to this contribution) May I finish the point first? There is a lot of room for improvement, and we all know it, but unless...
Chris Ruane | 505 c79WH (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way yet again. On the question of assessment, for me the key perfo...
David Cairns | 505 c79WH (Link to this contribution) I can help my hon. Friend on that latter point. If he goes to the Electoral Commission website, he w...
David Cairns | 505 c78WH (Link to this contribution) I am sure that it happens, but it is of course possible to appeal against decisions made by returnin...
David Cairns | 505 c78WH (Link to this contribution) Sadly, I was not present on those occasions, but I shall be this time. As I have said, the performa...
Bob Spink | 505 c78WH (Link to this contribution) I have elaborated on the matter many times in the House.
Chris Ruane | 505 c96WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar said that local government should be allowed to set its spen...
Lord Wills | 505 c96-7WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. On the question of the accountability of EROs, we must tread extrem...
Geraldine Smith | 505 c97WH (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is right. All returning officers will act in an honest and honourable way, but ...
Lord Wills | 505 c97-8WH (Link to this contribution) I was going to move on to that point. I agree with my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Epping For...
Speaker | 505 c98WH (Link to this contribution) I hope that hon. Members will forgive me for allowing the Minister to finish his comments. They no d...
Speaker | 505 c90WH (Link to this contribution) Before I call Jo Swinson, I should say to Members that I have also been in the position of being fru...
Chris Ruane | 505 c88-90WH (Link to this contribution) I shall be as brief as possible, Mr. Wilshire. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Invercly...
Speaker | 505 c88WH (Link to this contribution) Before I call Mr. Ruane, may I point out that I hope to call Jo Swinson at half-past 10?
Tom Harris | 505 c91WH (Link to this contribution) It is likely that the general election will be held on the same day as local elections in England, a...
Jo Swinson | 505 c90-1WH (Link to this contribution) I am interested in the damaging allegations that the hon. Gentleman has made about my colleagues in ...
Chris Ruane | 505 c90WH (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Lady like to comment on the former Liberal Democrat leader of Islington council, who ...
Jo Swinson | 505 c90WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Wilshire. I congratulate the hon. Member for Inverclyde (David Cairns) on securing th...
Jo Swinson | 505 c92WH (Link to this contribution) I accept that point, but the entertainment value does have an impact on democracy. It helps people t...
Lord Pickles | 505 c92WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has misunderstood what I said. My point is that the entertainment value is not as impo...
Jo Swinson | 505 c91-2WH (Link to this contribution) The experience we had in Scotland suggests that holding the elections at different times would be he...
Jo Swinson | 505 c92WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I have only a short time left and want to make some progress. Election night is wat...
Chris Ruane | 505 c93WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady mentioned the importance of the accuracy of the register and the integrity of the ball...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 505 c92-3WH (Link to this contribution) I seriously congratulate the hon. Member for Inverclyde (David Cairns) on initiating the debate; thi...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 505 c93-4WH (Link to this contribution) Yes, of course I can. We have also talked about the comprehensive nature of the register, which is e...
Lord Wills | 505 c95-6WH (Link to this contribution) I not only congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (David Cairns) on securing the deba...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 505 c94-5WH (Link to this contribution) Or not. We have always had a system that is immediate, and that is one of the basic building blocks ...
Lord Wills | 505 c96WH (Link to this contribution) Of course not, but there are divisions between us, and the hon. Gentleman alerted Members to them in...
Lord Pickles | 505 c96WH (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman misquoted me inadvertently. He asked me a specific question ...
David Cairns | 505 c81-2WH (Link to this contribution) That is a real concern. It is not one that I was going to cite, but I have seen it expressed elsewhe...
Lord Pickles | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) No, I expect local authorities to behave reasonably. We should not stand over them in a nanny state ...
Lord Wills | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) I do not want to interrupt the hon. Gentleman's speech for too long because my time will come, but l...
Lord Pickles | 505 c83-4WH (Link to this contribution) Sometimes people are away from their homes, and sometimes people feel that it is a bit like filling ...
Brian H Donohoe | 505 c83WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not think that with a bit of imagination and marketing, all the postal votes...
Lord Pickles | 505 c82-3WH (Link to this contribution) It is a great comfort to know that our words will go out. I congratulate the hon. Member for Invercl...
Speaker | 505 c82WH (Link to this contribution) Before I call Mr. Pickles, may I say two things? First, we have just under half an hour before I cal...
David Cairns | 505 c82WH (Link to this contribution) It is nonsense, quite right. In the words of one of my former constituents, "I don't believe it." [H...
Lord Pickles | 505 c82WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right; it is nonsense.
Geraldine Smith | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman has said, the problem that has been identified is that returning officers are ...
Lord Pickles | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Lady, but this is the last time because I want to make a short speech.
Tom Harris | 505 c85-6WH (Link to this contribution) I want to begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (David Cairns) on securin...
Lord Pickles | 505 c84-5WH (Link to this contribution) I did not want to bring back any bad memories for the hon. Gentleman. It is different in the United...
Tom Harris | 505 c86-8WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made absolutely the right suggestion, as far as having elections for two differen...
Parmjit Dhanda | 505 c86WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is quite right that the postal vote ballot paper is being used as a reason, perhaps a...
Lord Pickles | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) I suppose that is the difference between the political parties—we want to set local authorities free...
Chris Ruane | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) That is what Ministers do. [Laughter.]
Lord Pickles | 505 c84WH (Link to this contribution) I am trying to arrive at a political consensus. However, this issue is not about some cheery tradit...
Subjects
Accountability Elections Returning officers
Link
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