That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order 2009.

Relevant Document: 21st Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

My Lords, the orders before us today relating to elections in Northern Ireland make small but important updates that are necessary to further assist the overall restructuring of local government in Northern Ireland. Noble Lords will be aware that the number of district councils in Northern Ireland is being reduced from 26 to 11. For this reason, this House agreed to the postponement of local elections in Northern Ireland until 2011 to allow time for the new local government wards and boundaries to be redrawn.

The draft Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order 2009 will postpone preparation of the next draft polling station scheme in Northern Ireland until 2010 to take account of the changes to wards and boundaries that I have referred to. Noble Lords may be aware that the purpose of a polling station scheme is to designate suitable buildings as polling stations in electoral wards. By virtue of Section 65 of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962, the next draft scheme is due to be prepared and published in 2009. I am sure that noble Lords would agree that it would make sense for the next polling station scheme to be based on the new local government wards.

The legislation to implement the new ward boundaries has not yet been approved by the Northern Ireland Assembly. I understand that it is anticipated that this legislation will be in force by the end of 2009. However, this would provide little or no time for a draft polling station scheme to be prepared and published in 2009, as currently required by law. The draft order would therefore postpone publication of the next draft scheme until 2010 and for subsequent schemes to be published every four years thereafter.

I turn to the draft District Electoral Areas Commissioner (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Order 2009. The Local Government Boundaries Commissioner recently submitted his final recommendations on proposed new wards and boundaries to the Minister for the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive. The next step in the process requires the District Electoral Areas Commissioner, or DEAC, to submit recommendations to the Secretary of State on the grouping of wards within electoral areas for the purpose of holding local government elections under the proportional representation/single transferable vote system.

The conduct of the DEAC review is governed by the District Electoral Areas Commissioner (Northern Ireland) Order 1984. This legislation has not been substantially updated since 1984 and some minor amendments are required to bring the DEAC’s procedures into line with the current procedures for other such reviews. The first concerns the period for making representations. The DEAC is required to publish provisional recommendations, and to hold public inquiries in respect of them, if representations are received from either 100 electors or a district council. However, paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the 1984 order provides for representations to be made within one month of the publication of the recommendations. I am concerned that this would not allow sufficient time for the relevant parties to make objections, particularly given the widespread changes that will need to be made as part of the current review. The draft order, therefore, extends this period to eight weeks, which is in line with the procedure followed by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner.

Secondly, the 1984 order requires the DEAC to publish a notice setting out his provisional recommendations in newspapers circulating in the district. However, because of the wide-ranging nature of the current review, it is likely that the recommendations will be very detailed and could involve the production of large-scale maps. It would therefore be both costly and unwieldy to publish them in full in local newspapers. The draft order therefore provides the commissioner with the option of either publishing a notice setting out his recommendations or simply providing details of when and where the recommendations may be inspected, or both. This is also in line with the procedure followed by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner.

Finally, as the number and boundaries of councils are due to change, it is important to clarify that it is existing councils most affected by any changes that can compel an inquiry, not the new 11 district councils that will come into being after the next local election. The draft order therefore provides that the objection of any council that will, in whole or in part, be incorporated by or incorporate the successor council will be sufficient to secure a local inquiry.

I hope that noble Lords will agree that these orders make small but important changes that are essential to ensuring the successful restructuring of local government in Northern Ireland. I beg to move.

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for explaining these two statutory instruments, which are not as simple as would appear from the two or three pages on which they are written.

I supported strongly the change from 26 to 11—except that I would have preferred seven. I said that for the benefit of the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney. However, we are in a time of change and I am not comfortable with the proposed dates. A great deal of change is going to take place. However, we are almost at the end of 2009 and it does not appear that the jobs that were supposed to have been completed by the end of 2009 are going to happen. We are into November, the parliamentary term ends within three weeks and I cannot see the expected changes taking place in 2009.

The order refers also to this taking place in 2010. Is it December 2010 or January 2010? It clearly probably is not January 2010, but the order does not give any indication within 12 months as to when it is expected. Paragraph 4.1 of the Explanatory Notes to the electoral law order states:

“This Order is needed to postpone the preparation of the draft polling station scheme that is due to take place in 2009 until 2010”.

That could cover 24 months or, as it now stands, two months. Perhaps the Minister can provide clarity on that.

As to the DEAC’s responsibilities for communication, the pragmatic approach of not forcing him to publish the preliminary offerings in the newspapers in order to save money seems very sensible, although the noble Lord opposite may not be terribly happy about that for other reasons. In principle, I agree with all that is being done and my comments are in no way a criticism of the DEAC, whom I have known for a number of years. However, I fear that the timescale lacks realism.

My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister for introducing these two orders. Regarding the first, although traditionally we on these Benches are sceptical about interfering with the usual practicalities that underpin the democratic process, in this case it is sensible to make an exception. It would be a waste of time, energy and resources to prepare a draft polling scheme for Northern Ireland before the review of boundaries for the 11 new local government districts has been finalised. Changes to boundaries could mean that previous arrangements are no longer suitable, or more appropriate polling stations could present themselves in a particular ward. We therefore support the first order.

I have slightly more points to make about the second order. We very much welcome the increase, from one month to eight weeks, of the period in which representations on the provisional recommendations can be made. However, we are a little concerned that the proposal will give the DEAC a choice of whether to publish the provisional recommendations or simply to make them available for inspection. As we know, Northern Ireland is undertaking a radical reorganisation of local government, moving from 26 borough councils to 11. There will naturally be a great deal of interest from the general public in how current wards will be organised and which new local council area they will find themselves living in. Given that this is such a radical change, and not simply a small shift in boundaries, it is important for the people of Northern Ireland to be able to assess and have access to this information as easily as possible.

Again, while we appreciate the costs involved in publishing the full provisional recommendations, we are concerned that simply making them available for inspection is not, by itself, sufficient. How will local people know that the recommendations are available for inspection? How will they know where and when to go to see them? It could be very difficult for some people in rural areas to travel to see the recommendations.

Finally, can the Minister at the very least assure the Committee that, if the DEAC decides just to make the recommendations available for inspection and not to publish locally, notification will be given in local newspapers so that local people will know that the recommendations are available to be looked at, and where and when they can do so? Can the Minister also assure the Committee that everything possible will be done to ensure that the recommendations are easily accessible for local people?

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness for her presentation of the orders. I found the comments of the noble Lords, Lord Glentoran and Lord Smith of Clifton, very interesting. It is interesting that the Conservative Party, together with the Ulster Unionist Party, now opposes the 11 new district councils and would have required fewer councils. I deplore that position because, having worked as a member of a district council for many years, and living in the west of Ulster, I know that the compromise of 11 is the correct answer. To have had only seven or eight would have made the councils far too large for rural people, as has been mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Clifton.

I thank the noble Lord for giving way. I hope that I said, as I think I did, that when I referred to there being seven councils it was a personal view.

I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has now dissociated himself from the Ulster Unionists and the Conservative Party on this matter.

I welcome the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Clifton, about advertising. I declare an interest, which is fully recorded in the Register. I know something about this subject. I think that the noble Lord would agree that people in Northern Ireland take a tremendous interest in elections and who has the right to vote. They want to know what is happening. Of course, on this occasion there is to be a major upheaval in local government in Northern Ireland and they will be keen to know what is being proposed. I am sorry to hear, yet again, that the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, wants to limit their ability to know what is going on behind their backs. He wants to reduce the publicity about the changes in local government in Northern Ireland. Perhaps on this occasion he will, once again, dissociate himself from the Ulster Unionists and the Conservative Party.

Advertising on radio and in weekly papers for all kinds of elections in Northern Ireland is now a matter of great concern within the media industry, which is very disturbed by the policy of the Government and the public agencies. They seem to be creating further problems as we go down the line of trying to reduce costs in electoral activities. No longer are government agencies getting value for money; more and more, they are involving a decreasing number of the population in Northern Ireland.

The most recent example is the European election. Postal vote applications were advertised on Classic FM, which is not one of the most popular radio stations in the west of Ulster; it may perhaps be very popular in North Down, but it is certainly not throughout the rest of the Province. They were also advertised in the Belfast Telegraph, which mainly circulates among the half a million or so people living in greater Belfast, not among the other 1,250,000 people living outside the city, and in the News of the World, which is not popular among many Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland. They were not advertised in the weekly papers that are read by the wider population in Northern Ireland. What was the net result? In the recent European election in Northern Ireland, there was a dramatic decrease in the number of people who applied for postal votes.

Paragraph 7 of the Explanatory Memorandum is entitled “Policy Background”. It refers to 100 electors. Is that 100 electors in the new district council areas or in the 26 district council areas?

It is in the original council areas.

That clears that up. The 26 district council areas vary greatly in size, from Moyle, which has about 10,000 people, to Belfast, which has maybe 250,000 people. That is why we are having a reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland. It is essential that 100 people, or various groups of 100 people in each district council area, know what is being proposed. If there is just a little notice in the weekly paper stating that the information is available at some address, people will not follow it up. They have to see what is happening. There will be a lot of criticism if they do not know what is being recommended.

It is not often that I recommend something that applies in the Republic of Ireland, but I know what happens there, and it is quite sensible. Local weekly newspapers are contacted and asked to print a supplement at a special advertising rate. That works. I recommend that we apply that in Northern Ireland to involve as many of the population as possible in seeing what is happening and having the right to comment on it and to submit recommendations or alternatives.

It is important that these things go into local papers. For example, in Downpatrick, the local paper, the Down Recorder—in which I have no interest—sells more copies than the Belfast Telegraph, the News Letter and the Irish News combined. In Dungannon, more copies of the Tyrone Courier are sold than the Belfast Telegraph, the News Letter and the Irish News combined. Noble Lords can see the importance of weekly papers, as opposed to daily papers or papers such as the News of the World.

There is of course a suggestion—in fact, it was an allegation, which is about to be followed up—that there is a conflict of interest if an outside agency advises on advertising policy for elections in Northern Ireland. I know that a newspaper group, with which I have no association whatever, is concerned about current electoral advertising policy; it has now employed one of the universities to investigate present government advertising policy and to advise whether the Government are getting value for money. Its report will become available for debate here in Parliament and in the Northern Ireland Assembly at the beginning of next year.

I apologise to the noble Baroness but after a few seconds she may discover why I am being somewhat impudent in rising to speak. She referred to 1984 and I suspect that, if we look back to the relevant tome, she will find that I was in the position that she is in now without the knowledge that I gleaned during those years.

Many of the points that I had in mind concerning newspapers have been raised by the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney. I seem to recall that when my department—the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland, as it then was—wished to promote various pieces of information, there was great panic in Belfast about the number of local organs of communication. The noble Lord mentioned the Belfast News Letter but, going even further west than Dungannon, he may be aware of the wide influence of the Mid Ulster Mail, not to mention the Tyrone Democrat. County Fermanagh has two newspapers: not just the Impartial Reporter but the Fermanagh Herald.

I believe that much of what the noble Lord suggested concerning special little supplements, with the co-operation of the local newspapers, will alleviate many of the problems that have been considered. What I have in mind, above all, are details concerning where and when one can vote. I wonder whether the Belfast News Letter, let alone the Financial Times or other great organs of world communication, is widely taken account of in Newtownstewart or elsewhere. The noble Lord should be careful: I am considered to be something of an intellectual in my home town because I take the Financial Times during the week. That may have something to do with the fact that I have time to read it here or on train journeys.

I hope that the noble Baroness will be able to take on board the excellent suggestion that local newspapers may be willing to help by producing a supplement. They are widely read and are very close to the polling stations and to what one might call the scene of the action. Therefore, they would probably be the best channel through which to promote exactly what she is trying to promote. I conclude by voicing my uncertainty about 2010, as my noble friend did so eloquently. Will it happen in December or the cold days of January?

I thank all noble Lords for their comments. I think that in general noble Lords welcomed the orders but they obviously also raised significant concerns about some aspects. I start with the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, who asked whether the May 2011 election was still achievable and voiced his concerns about the reality of the timing. All those involved in the reorganisation of local government are working towards a May 2011 election. We are reassured by the fact that Edwin Poots, the Minister of the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive, has indicated that he expects the Assembly to debate the legislation for which it is responsible by the end of the year. On 20 October 2009, he stated:

“I am confident that, by working together, we will achieve our goals of creating 11 strong and effective councils in May 2011”.

This will allow for the remaining stages of the review, including the DEAC review that we are discussing today, to be completed in time for a May 2011 election.

The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, expressed his concerns about the timing of the publication of the 2010 polling station scheme. The Polling Station Scheme Regulations 1972 set out in further detail when exactly a draft polling station scheme should be prepared in the relevant year. These regulations will be updated shortly and, therefore, I cannot give the noble Lord a specific answer as to whether it will be January or December. However, the regulations that will decide that will be updated shortly. We will, of course, relay the noble Lord’s concerns over timing to the chief electoral officer.

The noble Lords, Lord Smith of Clifton and Lord Kilclooney, raised concerns about the removal of the requirement for DEAC to publish his recommendations in local newspapers. The noble Lords feel that this will make them less accessible to sections of the community. I emphasise that that is not the intention of the order. If anything, the intention is to increase accessibility. The DEAC must still give notice to newspapers circulating locally of where his provisional recommendations may be inspected and he may still, at his discretion, publish them in the newspapers. The suggestion of the noble Lords, Lord Kilclooney and Lord Smith, about providing an inset or a publication inside the newspaper will of course be passed on.

I am concerned by the comment that the intention is to increase access for the public to these proposals. I hope that the noble Baroness took note of my comments on what happened in the recent European elections, when the same new advertising policy was pursued and resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of applications for postal votes.

I take note of that. As a former MEP, like the noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney, I find it concerning; I do not like the sound of it at all. However, I suggest that the methods by which people access information are changing all the time. While I accept that many people will go to their local newspaper to find out what is happening electorally—I accept also the high level and sophistication of electoral interest in Northern Ireland—many will gain access through the website. The DEAC intends to publish his provisional recommendations on his website. He will make them available for viewing in DEAC offices, in libraries, in council offices and in local area offices. That will be made clear when he publishes the notice. Copies will also be provided to, for instance, groups that represent those with disabilities, who would find access even more difficult.

The point about the newspaper supplement idea and publishing in newspapers generally is that they have a tremendous reinforcing effect. When we see something on screen, it is instantaneous—here today and gone tomorrow—but when you have a newspaper that lies around the house for a week it is a constant memo to you to do something about it.

I absolutely agree with noble Lords that it is important that we get this right and get the message to as many potential electors as possible. I shall certainly raise the concerns expressed today about public awareness with the Electoral Commission. As noble Lords will know, the Electoral Commission has responsibility for raising public awareness—it is one of the reasons for its existence—in relation to postal voting and so on. The noble Lord, Lord Kilclooney, referred to the recent European elections. Again, we come back to the role and responsibility of the Electoral Commission.

When the noble Baroness goes to bed, she can take her weekly newspaper with her, but not her computer.

Well, it depends. As they say, it is a matter of size—you can sometimes get a lot of information on BlackBerrys—but I take the noble Lord’s point. The DEAC must still publish a notice saying where those recommendations may be inspected. However, as I have said, the specific concerns that have been raised today will be passed on.

I have probably covered most points. The noble Lord, Lord Lyell, spoke about advertising and raising public awareness of elections. I repeat that that is a matter for the Electoral Commission, to which we shall happily relay his views—as well as his great experience from 1984, when he stood here.

The noble Baroness has been kind enough to refer to 1984. In fact, it was during my six summers in Northern Ireland that I became aware that one particular area may have more than just one newspaper. I mentioned County Fermanagh because when one—it might have been me or perhaps my noble friend Lord King—was putting out news in a communiqué from the Department of Agriculture to the Fermanagh Herald, which covered one particular but widely spread section of the community, and the Impartial Reporter, one had to transpose the photographs. Different communiqués over matters such as pigs, cattle or calves would have to be given to different newspapers covering one county. I am sure that the Minister and the department will take good care of that. She has been very kind to lay to rest my worry that people would not be totally aware at a local level of what might be relevant. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Smith, put it beautifully when he said that, when something is broadcast on screen, via Ulster Television, for example—or indeed on Downtown Radio—it might be just here and there, whereas when it is in a newspaper you know that it is all there. However, the Minister has reassured me fully and I thank her very much.

Motion agreed.