Committee
Local Government Committee, 08 May 2001
08 May 2001 · S1 · Local Government Committee
Item of business
Draft Local Government (Timing of Elections) (Scotland) Bill
I will try to ensure that you do not have to intervene too often, so that you can save your voice.As members are aware, we announced in November last year our intention to legislate to allow council terms to be extended to four years and to allow Scottish Parliament and council elections to be planned at the same time interval, from 2003 onwards. We are now consulting on draft legislation. The consultation ends on 21 June. We hope that the bill will be introduced to Parliament in September this year. That will be necessary to make the changes required to cancel the 2002 local government elections, which would otherwise take place, in time.We believe that the move to a four-year term will give councils far greater stability than the current three-year term. It will help councils to plan ahead and to deliver their policies and priorities more effectively. Extending council terms will complement other initiatives that we have taken, such as the new financial regime, which introduced three-year budget settlements and so a longer time horizon than that to which we were accustomed. We recognise that there are differing views on whether local government elections should coincide with those for the Parliament or should fall mid-term—between parliamentary elections. Sir Neil McIntosh's report recognised that benefits were attached to both approaches. His evidence was largely taken before the experience of the 1999 election. There has been subsequent consultation on his report and I will go into the results of that later, if the committee wants.The elections in May 1999 achieved the highest turnout for local government elections in a decade or more. The average turnout was 59 per cent against a backdrop of average turnouts of between 48 per cent and 41 per cent from 1976 to 1995. Graphs that illustrate the trend are available to members of the committee.We believe that that high turnout reinforces local government's democratic mandate. Holding local government elections on the same day as the Scottish Parliament election strengthens the notion that equal legitimacy exists between both tiers of Scottish government and clarifies that there are different responsibilities attached to each tier. Over time, that will help to clarify the respective roles of the Parliament and local government. The previous system of holding separate elections led to local government elections being seen as national referendums on the Government. Officials will discuss with the relevant administrative bodies, electoral registration officers, returning officers and others issues associated with the planning and administration of the elections in June and will address any administrative concerns that arise from the proposals.I am aware that there are concerns about the possibility that local government elections might be called early because of an early Scottish Parliament election. I have already had some helpful comments from members of the committee about that matter. I want to make it clear that our first and overriding principle is to move to holding local government elections on a four-year-term basis. A secondary concern is the wish to hold them at the same time as the Scottish Parliament election. We will consider carefully the responses to the consultation on shifting local government elections from a four-year-term basis to make them coincide with an early election of the Scottish Parliament. In the draft bill, ministers have the power to call an early local government election in a wide range of circumstances. The committee can expect that we will have pondered the matter further when we come back to Parliament with refined proposals in September. The benefit of having the period of consultation on the draft bill is that it allows us to consider such matters in the light of comments, which are still coming in.While I believe that there will be a case for ministers continuing to have some discretion in the calling of elections, it may well be better to express a clearer view on when that would be necessary in the bill that we introduce in September. I stress once again that our overriding principle is to hold local government elections on a four-year-term basis.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
We now move to the Executive's consultation paper and the draft local government (timing of elections) (Scotland) bill. I will not divide up the questions fo...
The Deputy Minister for Finance and Local Government (Peter Peacock):
Lab
I will try to ensure that you do not have to intervene too often, so that you can save your voice.As members are aware, we announced in November last year ou...
The Convener:
Lab
I will ask my questions before my voice totally disappears.As you know, Professor John Curtice is our next witness. I found an interesting quotation in his s...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
John Curtice's argument seems to be that we should make provision in the bill for ministers to have powers to make a Scottish local government election coinc...
Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
If I quote you correctly, you said that there would be a mid-term mini-referendum on the Government's performance if a local government election took place o...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
We have heard that argument a number of times over a number of years; it predated the first Scottish Parliament election and the most recent local government...
Mr Paterson:
SNP
If the process of electing a Scottish or UK Government puts local government on the back burner, does the Executive have plans to provide resources to enhanc...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
As I said, I do not accept that proposition, but we are more than happy to consider any matters in which we can be helpfully involved and to assist local aut...
Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
From the minister's answer, I assume that he feels that combining elections would not take the focus off local government elections.
Peter Peacock:
Lab
I do not think that focus would be lost. Political parties, the Executive and local authorities have parts to play in bringing to the Scottish public's atten...
Mr Harding:
Con
You mentioned McIntosh who, along with Kerley, recommended four-year terms starting on different dates. How meaningful is the consultation? According to a wr...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
We are not wasting our time. The consultation is genuine. We have firm proposals on which we are consulting. I noticed Mr Harding's press release—we are damn...
Mr Harding:
Con
That is the joy of being in power.
Peter Peacock:
Lab
Had we issued a press release, we would have been accused of spin. We did not issue one and we were accused of secrecy. It is difficult to win. The consultat...
Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
Forgive us for being a bit cynical, but the consultation was announced in reply to a written question that was answered before the question was published, on...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
The hard evidence is that the coincidence of the Scottish Parliament elections and the local government elections led to a significant increase in turnout. T...
Mr Gibson:
SNP
I wonder whether the turnout at local government elections in fact increased. Paragraph 6 of the policy memorandum states:"The heightened publicity and media...
The Convener:
Lab
Kenny, please get to your question.
Mr Gibson:
SNP
On Scottish television there were advertisements for people to register to vote for the English council elections which, unless I am mistaken, were never sch...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
There are choices to be made. We have indicated in the policy memorandum and in answer to questions in Parliament that the timing of elections is a balanced ...
Mr Gibson:
SNP
I have a small question on the power to synchronise polling at local government and extraordinary parliamentary elections. We would all accept the need for f...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
I am happy to pick up on those points. Iain Smith has already spoken to me at length about that matter. Other members of the committee have also brought it t...
Mr Gibson:
SNP
The power obviously contradicts the aim of having four-year terms.
Mr Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab):
Lab
Minister, you have probably gathered that there is some scepticism in the committee about the bill. Part of that scepticism is based on the idea that the bil...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
God forbid that we would ever be accused of trying to avoid any of the Kerley recommendations. As you know, we are committed to making progress on the questi...
Iain Smith (North-East Fife) (LD):
LD
I thank the minister for the discussions that he and I have had on the draft bill and the assurances that he has given to the committee this afternoon on som...
Peter Peacock:
Lab
We will consider the drafting to see whether there are ways of better expressing matters relating to the four-year term, in order to draw attention to the pr...
The Convener:
Lab
Donald, would you like to ask anything?
Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
No. As you know, convener, I am here for the next item. I have a continuing interest in these subjects.
The Convener:
Lab
I just did not want you to think that we were ignoring you.Are there any more questions?