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Putting Citizens First: the Report from the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems

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Putting Citizens First: the Report from the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee Putting Citizens First: the Report from the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems Third Report of Session 2005–06 HC 924 House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee Putting Citizens First: the Report from the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems Third Report of Session 2005–06 Report, together with formal minutes and oral evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 9 May 2006 HC 924 Published on 16 May 2006 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Scottish Affairs Committee The Scottish Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Scotland Office (including (i) relations with the Scottish Parliament and (ii) administration and expenditure of the office of the Advocate General for Scotland (but excluding individual cases and advice given within government by the Advocate General)). Current membership Mr Mohammad Sarwar MP (Labour, Glasgow Central) (Chairman) Danny Alexander MP, (Liberal Democrat, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey) Gordon Banks MP, (Labour, Ochil & South Perthshire) Ms Katy Clark MP, (Labour, North Ayrshire & Arran) Mr Ian Davidson MP, (Labour, Glasgow South West) Mr John MacDougall MP, (Labour, Glenrothes) Mr Jim McGovern MP, (Labour, Dundee West) Mr Angus MacNeil MP, (SNP, Na h-Eileanan An Iar) David Mundell MP, (Conservative, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) Mr Charles Walker MP, (Conservative, Broxbourne) Mr Ben Wallace MP, (Conservative, Lancaster & Wyre) Powers The committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/scottish_affairs_committee.cfm A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Mike Clark (Clerk), Diane Nelson (Committee Assistant) and Camilla Brace (Secretary). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Scottish Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6295; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Scottish Affairs Committee 1 Contents Report Page 1 Introduction 3 2 Putting Citizens First 3 3 Further debate? 5 Formal Minutes 6 Witnesses 7 Publications from the Scottish Affairs Committee since 2005 8 Scottish Affairs Committee 3 1 Introduction 1. In Session 2003-04, the Scottish Affairs Committee held an inquiry into the Coincidence of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in Scotland and the Consequences of Change,1 which followed the Government’s decision to retain the number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) at 129, and the provisional proposals of the Boundary Commission for Scotland to reduce the number of Scottish constituencies represented at Westminster from 72 to 59. 2. The Committee’s inquiry focused mainly on the consequences of the creation of different constituency boundaries in Scotland for elections to Westminster and to Holyrood, and the different voting systems used for different types of elections in Scotland. 3. In the wake of the Committee’s inquiry and Report, the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems, (“the Arbuthnott Commission”), was established by the Secretary of State for Scotland in May 2004 to consider the consequences of having four separate voting systems for elections in Scotland and having different constituency boundaries for elections to Westminster and to Holyrood. 2 Putting Citizens First 4. The Arbuthnott Commission’s report, Putting Citizens First: Boundaries, Voting and Representation in Scotland,2 was published on 19 January 2006, and submitted to the Secretary of State for Scotland and to the First Minister; its main recommendations included: the current mixed member system for electing the Scottish Parliament should be retained, but with open lists to increase voter choice; constituency and regional boundaries for the Scottish Parliament should be based on local authority areas rather than Westminster constituencies, with the regions revised to better reflect natural local communities; candidates for election to the Scottish Parliament should not be prohibited from standing in a constituency and on the regional list; clearer and more positive roles should be developed for constituency and regional MSPs; the single transferable vote system should be introduced for European parliamentary elections; and Scottish Parliament and local government elections should be held on different days.3 1 Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report, Session 2003-04, Coincidence of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in Scotland and the Consequences of Change, HC (2003-04) 77. 2 Published by Edinburgh: The Stationery Office, ISBN 0108881792. 3 News Release from the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems, 19 January 2006. 4 Scottish Affairs Committee 5. The House of Commons Library has produced an excellent and comprehensive analysis of the Commission’s report in its Standard Note SN/PC/3918,4 and therefore we have not rehearsed such an analysis in this Report. 6. Following the report’s publication, the Committee held a one-off evidence session on 14 February 2006, with evidence being taken from Professor Sir John Arbuthnott, the Chairman, and Dr Nicola McEwen, a member, of the Commission on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems. We wish to thank them for their evidence. 7. When we questioned Sir John Arbuthnott and Dr McEwen, we raised with them several matters of concern about the Commission’s report, in particular, those matters which we considered needing clarifying. Such concerns included, for example: coterminosity of Westminster and Holyrood constituency boundaries (Q3); the remit of the Commission and honouring the devolution settlement (QQ4-10); the voting system for elections to the Scottish Parliament (QQ11-16, 35-38 and 40); the boundaries and size of Holyrood constituencies (QQ17-21 and 25-29); Scottish local government elections (QQ22-24); wasted votes (QQ30-33 and 48); the multiplicity of MSPs representing Scottish Parliament constituencies (Q34); voter confusion (QQ39, 41-47 and 49); dual candidacy for elections to the Scottish Parliament (Q50); and elections to the European Parliament (QQ54-58). 8. The Commission’s evidence attached to this Report. Coincidentally, the day after our meeting, Brian H Donohoe MP initiated a Westminster Hall debate on the Arbuthnott Commission Report,5 and the evidence taken by us was referred to during that debate. 4 http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-03918.pdf. 5 Official Report, 15 February 2006, cols. 498WH-505WH. Scottish Affairs Committee 5 3 Further debate? 9. During our questioning of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, David Cairns MP, in March on our inquiry into The Sewel Convention: the Westminster perspective, we took the opportunity to ask him when the Government would be publishing its response to Arbuthnott. The Minister’s reply was non-committal: “Our response will be forthcoming in due course….”6 10. The intervening weeks have not provided any further indication of exactly when “in due course” might be. We consider that, before the Government does publish its response to Putting Citizens First, all interested Scottish Members should have the opportunity to raise their own concerns with Ministers, and to seek to influence the Government’s response. 11. During his opening of the Westminster Hall debate on 15 February, Brian Donohoe pointed out that a Scottish Grand Committee had not met since 12 November 2003, and continued that a Scottish Grand might be: “…the vehicle for a full debate on the whole issue of the contents of the report and the way forward on its conclusions.”7 12. In replying to the debate, David Cairns agreed that there had not been a Scottish Grand Committee since November 2003, but went on to say: “…. As far as I am aware, there have been no such requests since then….However, it is within the right of any Scottish Member of Parliament to request a Scottish Grand Committee, and then it is up to the usual channels to allocate one.” 8 13. We endorse the suggestion that a Scottish Grand Committee would be an appropriate vehicle for a debate on Putting Citizens First. This Committee, composed of Members from all Parties representing Scottish constituencies, therefore makes a formal request that a Scottish Grand Committee be held to consider the matter of Putting Citizens First: Boundaries, Voting and Representation in Scotland, and recommends that such a meeting of a Grand Committee be held before the Government makes any substantive response to that report. 6 HC (2005-06) 983-ii, Q116. 7 Official Report, 15 February 2006, col. 498WH. 8 ibid, cols. 501WH-502WH. 6 Scottish Affairs Committee Formal Minutes Tuesday 9 May 2006 Members present: Mr Mohammad Sarwar, in the Chair Danny Alexander Mr Jim McGovern Gordon Banks Mr Angus MacNeil Ms Katy Clark David Mundell Mr Ian Davidson Mr Charles Walker Mr John MacDougall The Committee deliberated. Draft Report (Putting Citizens First:
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