That the draft Order and Regulations laid before the House on 26 April be approved. 20th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Considered in Grand Committee on 7 June. Motions agreed.

That the draft Order and Regulations laid before the House on 26 April be approved. 20th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Considered in Grand Committee on 7 June. Motions agreed.

Draft Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2011 (SI 2011/1466). Draft Representation of the People (Electoral Registration Data Schemes) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1467). Lords motions to approve. Agreed to on question (formal).

Draft Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2011 (SI 2011/1466). Draft Representation of the People (Electoral Registration Data Schemes) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1467). Lords motions to approve. Agreed to on question (formal).

Draft Representation of the People (Electoral Registration Data Schemes) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1467). Lords debate on a motion to consider. Agreed to on question. Debated with draft Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2011 (SI 2011/1466). Grand Committee held in the Moses Room.

Draft Representation of the People (Electoral Registration Data Schemes) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1467). Lords debate on a motion to consider. Agreed to on question. Debated with draft Electoral Registration Data Schemes Order 2011 (SI 2011/1466). Grand Committee held in the Moses Room.

That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration Data Schemes) Regulations 2011. Relevant document: 20th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration Data Schemes) Regulations 2011. Relevant document: 20th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

My Lords, the order and regulations will together provide the legal basis for the electoral registration data-matching trial that my honourable friend the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform announced in another place on 15 September 2010. These instruments will enable the sharing and matching of specified data between local...

My Lords, the order and regulations will together provide the legal basis for the electoral registration data-matching trial that my honourable friend the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform announced in another place on 15 September 2010. These instruments will enable the sharing and matching of specified data between local...

My Lords, I declare that I am an electoral commissioner, having joined the commission on 1 October last year. I fully support the thrust of the commission’s views on these important statutory instruments. I am sure that all noble Lords want completeness and accuracy of electoral registers. We want confidence...

My Lords, I declare that I am an electoral commissioner, having joined the commission on 1 October last year. I fully support the thrust of the commission’s views on these important statutory instruments. I am sure that all noble Lords want completeness and accuracy of electoral registers. We want confidence...

I thought that someone would challenge me on this and I am delighted to give way to the noble Lord, Lord Tyler.

I thought that someone would challenge me on this and I am delighted to give way to the noble Lord, Lord Tyler.

My Lords, I am glad to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, because I know that he shares the commitment that we have on all sides of the House to make the electoral register as comprehensive and accurate as we can. In the debates earlier this year on the Parliamentary...

My Lords, I am glad to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, because I know that he shares the commitment that we have on all sides of the House to make the electoral register as comprehensive and accurate as we can. In the debates earlier this year on the Parliamentary...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, and my noble friend on the Electoral Commission. I also thank the Minister for the clarity of his introduction. It is clear how, over the years, the register has ceased to be the reference source—the local bible—that it once was. That...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, and my noble friend on the Electoral Commission. I also thank the Minister for the clarity of his introduction. It is clear how, over the years, the register has ceased to be the reference source—the local bible—that it once was. That...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend and all noble Lords who have made important contributions to an important debate. I do not intend to delay the proceedings for long, not least because the Minister made such a compelling case for these statutory instruments that there...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend and all noble Lords who have made important contributions to an important debate. I do not intend to delay the proceedings for long, not least because the Minister made such a compelling case for these statutory instruments that there...

My Lords—

My Lords—

I agree. This was a particularly intractable problem, which Governments have looked at and tried to solve over a very long period. We were not in power for the whole of the past 50 years. Other Governments were in power and they, too, did nothing about moving towards individual registration....

I agree. This was a particularly intractable problem, which Governments have looked at and tried to solve over a very long period. We were not in power for the whole of the past 50 years. Other Governments were in power and they, too, did nothing about moving towards individual registration....

The noble Lord is eloquent, but perhaps I may ask him to confirm one thing before he completely rewrites the history of the previous Administration. Am I right in thinking that the Electoral Commission recommended a staged move towards individual registration in 2003? Why did it take so long for...

The noble Lord is eloquent, but perhaps I may ask him to confirm one thing before he completely rewrites the history of the previous Administration. Am I right in thinking that the Electoral Commission recommended a staged move towards individual registration in 2003? Why did it take so long for...

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Tyler. He is fully aware that we are talking about a matter of months. We considered all the advice that we received and we consulted widely. As the noble Lord has raised this point, it is worth reminding the Committee that, under...

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Tyler. He is fully aware that we are talking about a matter of months. We considered all the advice that we received and we consulted widely. As the noble Lord has raised this point, it is worth reminding the Committee that, under...

I do not wish to challenge that. I want to draw the noble Lord’s attention to the fact—he is a very fair man—that what he has just said about individual registration and what he said previously about the fact that his Administration failed to bring forward these instruments after the...

I do not wish to challenge that. I want to draw the noble Lord’s attention to the fact—he is a very fair man—that what he has just said about individual registration and what he said previously about the fact that his Administration failed to bring forward these instruments after the...

With all due respect to the noble Lord, we have to make that judgment on the basis of evidence, but the evidence is not there at the moment. I tried hard in government to put in further measures to improve registration, but for various reasons I was not able to...

With all due respect to the noble Lord, we have to make that judgment on the basis of evidence, but the evidence is not there at the moment. I tried hard in government to put in further measures to improve registration, but for various reasons I was not able to...

I am sorry, but we did not support the timescale that the noble Lord is now describing. In this very Room in Committee, my noble friend Lord Rennard and I argued that we surely could be in a position to accelerate the process in time for an expected election at...

I am sorry, but we did not support the timescale that the noble Lord is now describing. In this very Room in Committee, my noble friend Lord Rennard and I argued that we surely could be in a position to accelerate the process in time for an expected election at...

I am delighted that the noble Lord has made that point. We set up a process under which there would be an independent assessment of whether the register was comprehensive and accurate—not a guess by Ministers or politicians but an accurate independent assessment. As the noble Lord is aware, under...

I am delighted that the noble Lord has made that point. We set up a process under which there would be an independent assessment of whether the register was comprehensive and accurate—not a guess by Ministers or politicians but an accurate independent assessment. As the noble Lord is aware, under...

I give credit to all who can improve registration, but the noble Lord is again undermining his own case. If registration has improved over the past 12 or 24 months, the circumstances that he described of moving towards individual registration could also be accelerated.

I give credit to all who can improve registration, but the noble Lord is again undermining his own case. If registration has improved over the past 12 or 24 months, the circumstances that he described of moving towards individual registration could also be accelerated.

This has been a useful and question-filled debate, although we will have to wait for Hansard to find out whether it has been fact-filled. It is important that we have respect for the electoral register and for our democratic process. On balance, I have always been in favour of the...

This has been a useful and question-filled debate, although we will have to wait for Hansard to find out whether it has been fact-filled. It is important that we have respect for the electoral register and for our democratic process. On balance, I have always been in favour of the...