Representation of the People Bill (Hansard, 29 June 1990)

§ Lord Allen of Abbeydale
My Lords, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time.
This small Bill which has been brought to us from another place carries an impressive Title, but is quite modest in content. However, its provisions will be helpful to electors, officials and party workers and so far as I am aware, it has the advantage of being non-political and non-controversial.
The Bill's provisions are aimed at entitling an elector who moves house during the currency of an electoral register to apply to be treated as an absent voter at all elections throughout the outstanding period of that register. The precise arrangements for voting in parliamentary elections are not always a matter of prime interest to Members of your Lordships' House. I suspect that the noble Lord, Lord Graham of Edmonton, who I see is to speak, can claim a greater expertise than most of us possess.
It will be recalled that to be on the electoral register for a particular district or a London borough council electors must be resident on a qualifying date —10th October in Great Britain and, I think I am right in saying, 15th September in Northern Ireland. The register comes into force on 16th February following, and remains in force for a year. People who move house during that period have to wait for the next register before they can vote in their new constituency.
The consolidating Representation of the People Act 1983 entitled an elector who moved to another area to apply for an absent vote for parliamentary elections during the currency of one electoral register. A similar right was conferred by regulation for European parliamentary elections. But those relevant provisions of the 1983 Act were repealed by the Representation of the People Act 1985. The provisions which that Act substituted for absent voting have proved in practice to fall a little way short of the ideal.
Their effect is that people who move house and want to vote by post or by proxy now have to make a separate application at each election —parliamentary, European or, in Great Britain, local government. This has caused a good deal of confusion and extra work, particularly when a parliamentary election and a local election came pretty close together and separate applications had to be made for each —as a good many people discovered with some surprise. The political parties and the election registration staff have suffered and, above all, so have the voters.
Section 6(2) of the 1985 Act sets out a list of persons eligible for an absent vote. Paragraph (a) of Clause 1 of the Bill adds to that list any person who is no longer resident at his qualifying address or at any other address in the same area.
Paragraph (b) of the clause, borrowing language in the main originally used in the 1983 Act, sets out the only circumstances in which two addresses are to be regarded as being in the same area. To complete the story, and in view of the reference in the Long Title to an indefinite period, under Section 6(4)(b) 1881 of the 1985 Act, which will bite on this addition to that section, the entitlement to an absent vote would cease on the coming into force of the next register.
The practical effect is that someone who moves house and goes to live outside the area covered by the register which includes his name may now make one comprehensive application to be treated as an absent voter during the currency of the register for all parliamentary elections —that is, European parliamentary elections under regulations which will come in due course; and, in Great Britain, local government elections.
The Bill's Explanatory Memorandum states that the Bill, has no implications for public expenditure or public service manpower". I think that that is quite right. Any possible change, one way or the other, would be minimal. The Bill could not come into force until some procedural points have been dealt with by minor amendments to the Representation of the People Regulations and then there are also the regulations to be made dealing with European elections. However, I hope that the Minister will be able to tell us that these should not take long.
As I said at the beginning of my speech, the Bill should be helpful to voters, to officials and to party workers alike. I commend it to your Lordships.
Moved, That the Bill be now read a second time. —(Lord Allen of Abbeydale.)

§ Lord Harris of Greenwich
My Lords, it is Friday and the hour is fairly late. I shall, therefore, be extremely brief in what I have to say. The noble Lord, Lord Allen of Abbeydale, made an overwhelming case for this small and useful Bill. It has all-party support. We on these Benches are very much in favour of it.

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, from these Benches I echo the words of the noble Lord, Lord Harris of Greenwich. The Bill is eminently sensible and its drafting has been based upon experience. Indeed, we have all had experience of these matters when knocking on people's doors. Because they have registered once, some people assume that that is all they need to do. There is great irritation when you point out to them that they are not in fact registered and that they should have repeated the exercise.
I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Allen of Abbeydale, for having explained so lucidly what is a simple step but one which, without any party animus, whatever, is bound to be good for democracy and the convenience of electors. We on this side of the House certainly support the Bill.

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, the two noble Lords who have just spoken have, if I may say so, set a precedent of brevity which I hope that they will continue to 1882 use. However, if I do not follow them to quite such a degree, I hope that they will forgive me.
The House will be grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Allen of Abbeydale, for introducing this Bill and for having explained its purpose. It is, indeed, a rare pleasure for a government spokesman to have the opportunity to speak on a Bill which, so far as I am aware —certainly so far—has proved to be completely uncontroversial and which has the full support of all the major political parties. Its provisions have been welcomed by the various local authority associations representing those dealing with electoral matters and I am sure that it will also be welcomed by all those electors who move house, and who, therefore, need an absent vote in their old district or constituency until the next annual register is compiled.
The Bill simplifies matters both for the elector and for the registration officer. It replaces the need for a person who has moved house to apply for an absent vote on each occasion during the year in which the register is in force and when there is an election. The Bill enables a single application to be made which will cover all elections.
We had originally hoped to address this matter in the Representation of the People Act which came before your Lordships' House last year. However, it did not prove possible to do so because it was necessary to keep that Act —which dealt, as your Lordships will doubtless recall, with new arrangements for overseas electors —as short and as straightforward as possible. We are therefore very glad that this early opportunity has arisen to make proper arrangements for electors who move house.
The financial and manpower implications of this Bill are not easy to assess precisely. The Bill will remove the need for a person who moves house to make a separate application for an absent vote at each election which arises before he or she may qualify to be included on the register at their new address. If, therefore, there were to be more than one election before the register in question expired, there might well be a saving on costs and manpower. But I doubt whether that would add up to a significant amount.
Of course, some people may well apply as a matter of course under the new provision in order to ensure that they get an absent vote even if no election is in prospect and even if, in the event, none actually ever takes place. I think, therefore, that it is highly unlikely that this provision will place any extra burden on local authorities; and the local authority associations agree with our view on this aspect of the matter.
The provisions of this Bill will come into force under an order made by the Secretary of State following Royal Assent. They cannot take effect until, as the noble Lord, Lord Allen of Abbeydale, rightly said, some small amendments are made to the Representation of the People Regulations. They are not likely to take much time. It will also be necessary to amend the European parliamentary regulations so as to apply the Bill's provisions to European parliamentary elections, and that will be done as soon as possible. The Bill will simplify the 1883 system and reduce the bureaucratic burden on a large number of electors who move house each year. I can only think that that will be to the advantage of everyone. I congratulate Lord Allen of Abbeydale on the Bill and wish him success.

§ Lord Allen of Abbeydale
My Lords, I do not believe there is anything for me to say except to thank noble Lords who have spoken for welcoming the Bill which I believe will be useful. I merely ask the House to give the Bill a Second Reading.