Minutes of the Scottish Parliament Political Parties Panel

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Scottish Parliament Political Parties Panel Tuesday 27 February 2018 Present: Gordon Dickson Scottish Green Party (Chair) Scott Martin Scottish National Party Matt Edmonds Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Paul Moat Scottish Liberal Democrats Party Maria McCann Scottish Government Dougie McGregor Scottish Government Dr Alistair Clark University of Newcastle Isabel Drummond-Murray Scottish Boundary Commissions Julie Pirone Royal Mail Chris Highcock Electoral Management Board for Scotland Kate Crawford Scottish Assessors Association and EMB Dame Susan Bruce Electoral Commissioner, Scotland Andy O Neill Head of Electoral Commission, Scotland Roisin McDaid Senior Officer - Political Parties Liaison Mette Christensen Senior Policy Adviser Lindsey Hamilton Business Support Officer Apologies Mary Pitcaithly Alasdair Morgan Pete Wildman Convener, Electoral Management Board for Scotland Electoral Commissioner Scottish Assessors Association (Chair of Electoral Registration Committee) Note of meeting 1. Welcome and Introductions The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and individuals introduced themselves. Apologies were noted.

2 2. Note of meeting of 19 October 2017 The draft minutes of the previous meeting were agreed. In relation to item 2: Scott Martin (SM) asked if there was an update regarding when parties were likely to be consulted on Electoral Commission proposals to standardise the format of statements of accounts. The Commission advised that due to unplanned electoral events work on this project had slowed down and we would provide an update as soon as it was in a position to do so. 3. Scotland Office Update There was no representative from the Scotland Office and no update had been submitted in advance of the meeting. (SM), who had been present at the recent Westminster PPP, informed attendees that Cabinet Office had updated on the voter ID pilots for the English council elections and that a consultation was to be undertaken regarding a new electoral offence relating to candidate intimidation. Gordon Dickson (GD) remarked that the Scottish Green Party which does not have a representative at the Westminster PPP was unaware of this. The meeting agreed that an update was desirable as information from the Westminster PPP may not be reported back to the Scottish Panel. It was agreed the Scotland Office should be contacted. ACTION: Andy O Neill (AON) to raise issue of the Scotland Office attendance with the department. 4. Scottish Boundary Commissions Boundary Commission for Scotland Isabel Drummond-Murray (IDM) reported that the Commission was in the process of considering responses to the consultation on its revised proposals and developing its final recommendations for constituencies for the UK Parliament. It was on course to submit its report to the Secretary of State for Scotland in September She updated the meeting on the recent consideration of the 2018 Review by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the House of Commons and also the progress of the Private Members Bill sponsored by Afzal Khan MP which is currently awaiting Committee Stage. The Bill sought to retain the number of MPs at 650; required a review of boundaries every ten years; ensured that all constituencies would have the same number of voters within a margin of 7.5%; made provision for the 2 million people who registered to vote since 2015 were included in the boundary review; and fixed the number of constituencies in Northern Ireland at 18.

3 Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland The Commission was following progress of the Islands (Scotland) Bill and planned to start its reviews of the islands councils in the summer followed by the 3 other affected councils. It was currently considering its approach as to how the review should be undertaken. With regard to the next review of Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions, the Commission would not be undertaking this work in advance of the next Scottish Parliament election. (IDM) noted that the legislation requires the next review to be complete by May Finally, (IDM) reported that the Commission would be submitting a response to the Scottish Government s Electoral Reform consultation and this would focus on rolling reviews, use of 2 or 5 member wards and the role of Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament in approving the Commission s recommendations. 5. EMB Update on electoral registration and electoral administration matters Chris Highcock (CH) reported that although this was a non-election year, election teams were busy with by-elections around the country and the EMB had observed a few of these. DROs were preparing to begin a 15 month review of polling places and polling districts from October. ROs were also in the process of claiming fees and charges from the 2017 UK Parliamentary election from Scotland Office. (SM) noted that Angus Council shared their polling place reviews with political parties at the local level and said parties nationally would find it useful to receive them nationally. (CH) said he would ensure the views of parties were intimated to councils. ACTION: Chris Highcock Kate Crawford (KC) said the canvass had progressed well and there were no major problems. The postal vote identifier refresh had also taken place with no issues. The two Scottish pilots had been completed and were in the evaluation stage. The Dumfries and Galloway pilot was centred on a telephone canvass. Glasgow's pilot identified different types of properties so that EROs could take the most appropriate approach. It was based on several routes looking at areas of high and low churn which had resulted in a better standard of responses. Various pilots were taking place in England mainly based around voter identification. The Electoral Commission will be evaluating the pilots in (CH) circulated copies of the EMB annual report drawing attention to the elements of the report from page 6 onwards which dealt with threats and opportunities that flow from the current pause in the electoral schedule and

4 then moved on to outline the EMB s intended work programme for the coming year. There are four work streams for the EMB; consistency, efficiency, visible integrity and innovations. Following a discussion of training for candidates and agents etc. relating to electoral administrative and regulatory matters, (AON) said the Electoral Commission welcomed the opportunity to provide training where required and this need not be restricted to party conferences but would be happy to piggy back with other events. Action: Parties to liaise with EC/EMB over training requests. 6. Royal Mail update Julie Pirone (JP) said that although there were no scheduled elections in Scotland this year, there were still by-elections as well as scheduled elections in England and the Royal Mail could be accessed to provide support and expertise as needed. In response to the suggestion that perhaps the Royal Mail update was not required for this year s remaining meetings, given there were no scheduled electoral events, (JP) said that it was a two way flow of information and therefore helpful for the Royal Mail to be updated on issues brought to this meeting. All agreed attendance of the Royal Mail would continue. 7. EC Update Delivering Modern Guidance Roisin McDaid (RM) updated the meeting on how the Commission planned to move its guidance from a PDF based approach to a new web-based approach. This would happen as part of the wider redevelopment of the Commission s website. She said there would be clear signposting and messaging with more use of flowcharts and tables so the format will be different but the quality and comprehensiveness would remain unchanged. Implementation will be phased with the intention to start in She said the EC was keen to consult closely with users and had set up a user group to help design their roadmap and would welcome the opportunity to go through the proposals perhaps at the next meeting. Codes of Practice (RM) said the parties would have received a letter in early February from the Electoral Commission regarding two proposed codes of practice on election spending. The codes would give clarification on what kind of election expenses were party and candidate. Parties were invited to give initial comments on areas where it was considered early discussion would be beneficial prior to a wider formal consultation in the latter part of The letter invited comments by 28 February 2017 and members were encouraged

5 to contact Denise Bottom with their views either by or telephone over the next week if they would like to make comments. (SM) informed members that Cabinet Office at the last Westminster PPP had indicated that if there was agreement by the parties then they would look at amending part 1 of schedule 8 of PPERA and the schedule 4A in the RPA. Conference on Scotland s Elections with Glasgow University AON thanked those who had attended the conference on 26 January in Glasgow which had provided an opportunity for discussion around the issues contained in the Scottish Government s proposals for electoral reform. 8. Scottish Government Update Access to Elected Office Fund Maria McCann (MMcC) referred to the letter circulated to PPP members in November 2017 relating to the Access to Elected Office Fund which had supported 39 candidates and resulted in 15 candidates becoming elected at the 2017 Scottish Council elections. The fund was to continue for council by-elections and would run for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. The Scottish Government was interested to find out from the parties the best mechanisms by which to make members aware of the fund and when to make funds available to Scottish Parliament likely candidates. Feedback from the parties suggested that it would have been helpful to have had funding as soon as possible. (MMcC) said she would bring a proposed timetable to the next meeting. ACTION: Maria McCann Consultation on Electoral Reform (MMcC) introduced The Scottish Government s consultation paper on electoral reform and Dr Alistair Clark facilitated a discussion with the aim of informing the response of organisations present. 9. Meetings in 2018 AON advised the 5 June & 2 October dates would have to be changed and said that potential new dates would be canvassed with members. 10. AOCB There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.