Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 and Representation of the People Regulations 2014 Public consultation document Cabinet Office April 2014 Public Consultation Document Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 and Representation of the People Regulations 2014 Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. Background 3 3. Consultation process 5 4. Information on the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 7 5. Explanation of the clauses of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 11 6. Information on the Representation of the People Regulations 2014 14 7. Explanation of the Representation of the People Regulations 2014 15 Appendix 1 Draft Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill Appendix 2 Representation of the People Act 1995 Appendix 3 Draft Representation of the People Regulations 2014 Appendix 4 List of direct consultees Appendix 5 Code of Practice Consultation Criteria The contents of this document are the property of the Cabinet Office and should not be copied without its permission. 1 Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 and Representation of the People Regulations 2014 1.0 Introduction 1.1 A robust and transparent electoral process is one of the key elements in supporting a nation’s international reputation. Furthermore a democratically elected stable Government acts as a contributory factor to attract inward investment. 1.2 Electoral reform is an important driver in ensuring the Isle of Man’s international reputation continues to thrive. 1.3 It is nearly twenty years since a substantial review of the electoral process has taken place. The Representation of the People Act 1995 and the associated Rules and Regulations do not include important electoral developments such as the requirement for declarations of candidates’ expenditure and the registration of political parties. The legislation also includes provisions which are now obsolete. 1.4 Unusually, this consultation document is seeking views on the draft Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 and the draft Representation of the People Regulations 2014 as a package. This approach has been taken to provide the opportunity for comment on all primary and secondary legislation relating to the electoral process. Provisions on the registration of electors, which fall under the Registration of Electors Act 2006, are outside the scope of this consultation exercise. 1.5 The consultation will be held for an extended period of eight weeks, to allow adequate time for responses, whilst also ensuring the new Bill can be in place in time for the 2016 election. The closing date for the receipt of comments is 5pm on Friday 27 June 2014. 2 2.0 Background 2.1 Post-Election Review 2.1.1 Review of election legislation is an ongoing process. After every General Election the Cabinet Office holds a meeting with returning officers, who are responsible for conducting the election in accordance with the Election Rules, in order to ascertain their concerns and to take forward any legislative changes deemed necessary. 2.1.2 During the 2011 General Election process an ongoing register was kept by the Chief Secretary’s Office to identify any issues reported. The draft Bill and Regulations on which views are being sought are a result of these exercises. 2.2 2010 Independent Panel Review 2.2.1 In 2010, as result of the events in connection with the by-election held for the House of Keys constituency for Douglas East in May 2010, the Chief Minister announced that the issue of candidate funding for those standing for public election would be referred for consideration by the Governance Committee. 2.2.2 The Governance Committee agreed that an Independent Review of the Representation of the People Act 1995 and Election Rules should be undertaken by an Independent Review Panel. The review predominantly focused on funding, expenditure, and donation issues, and produced a number of recommendations in these areas. 2.2.3 A short public consultation was held in January 2011 on the Panel’s recommendations which supported the drafting of a new piece of primary legislation the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2011. 2.3 Representation of the People (Amendment Bill) 2011 2.3.1 The 2011 Bill principally focused on transparency of donations received by a candidate and limitations of expenses incurred. 2.3.2 The Bill was presented to the House of Keys in April 2011 but did not complete its passage before the 2011 General Election and therefore lapsed. 2.3.3 The draft Representation of People (Amendment) Bill 2014 contains provisions which had been included in the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2011, and additional recommendations from the Panel which were not included in the 2011 Bill. 2.4 Wider Electoral Reform 2.4.1 The Representation of the People Act 1995 and the subordinate legislation made under it has become increasingly complex to follow. This view is supported by the Law Commission who have identified similar issues in the United Kingdom. They have undertaken an independent review and are currently formulating proposals for UK electoral reform, supported by the UK Cabinet Office. These proposals are due to go out to consultation in late 2014, and the Law Commission aim to publish a final report and Bill in early 2017. 2.4.2 Whilst significant modernisation and improvement has been included in this legislation package, it does not address fully the changes required to provide a 3 complete overhaul of existing provisions. The Council of Ministers has directed that a root and branch review of Manx election legislation should take place in 2016/17. Following the conclusions of that review, there are likely to be further wide ranging changes which the Isle of Man will need to consider. It is important to note that this consultation does not extend to the registration of electors which is covered by the Registration of Electors Act 2006. However this would form part of any root and branch review as outlined above. 2.5 Aims and Intention of the Bill 2.5.1 The intention of this amendment Bill is to ensure key reforms and modernisation of the existing legislation is undertaken in the time available before the 2016 General Election. Although further reform will need to be considered in the future the changes are an important step towards improving transparency and governance of the Island’s election process. 2.5.2 The main aims of the Isle of Man’s legislation package, on which views are being sought, are to: ensure the electoral process is easily understood by returning officers and those who assist in the running of elections, prospective candidates and the electorate; and to update the legislation to introduce the key recommendations from the Independent Panel’s Review. These provisions relate to the registration of political parties and the declaration of candidates’ expenses. 4 3.0 Consultation Process 3.1 Comments The Council of Ministers would be grateful to receive any comments on the draft Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2014 which can be found at Appendix 1. For reference a copy of the existing legislation – the Representation of the People Act 1995 - is attached at Appendix 2. In addition the Council of Ministers would welcome comments on the draft Representation of the People Regulations 2014 which can be found at Appendix 3. There are questions on key areas of reform or amendment posed throughout this consultation document where specific feedback is sought. The Council of Ministers would be grateful for responses to reference these questions where appropriate. 3.2 Submissions An accompanying electronic feedback form, allowing both general comments and comments specific to the questions posed in this consultation document has been prepared and can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ohle7dc. This feedback form can be completed, saved and returned to [email protected]. There is a ‘submit’ function on the form to assist this process. If you do not wish to complete the form, respondents can send their comments by email to the same email address, [email protected]. Or comments can be submitted in writing to: Mr Carlos Phillips Crown and External Relations Cabinet Office Government Office Bucks Road Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN 3.3 Closing date The closing date for the receipt of comments is 5pm on Friday 27 June 2014. 3.4 Additional copies of this document and further information For hard copies of this document, please telephone (01624) 685314. Copies can be collected from the Cabinet Office at the above address. An electronic version of this document and the accompanying feedback form can be found by following the links on the Government’s current consultation page, available at: http://tinyurl.com/ohle7dc If you have any queries about this consultation, please telephone (01624) 685314 or email [email protected]. 5 3.5 Important points to remember Unless specifically requested otherwise, any responses received may be published either in part or in their entirety. Please mark your response clearly if you wish your response and name to be kept confidential. Confidential responses will be included in any statistical summary and numbers of comments received. When submitting your views please indicate if you are responding on behalf of an organisation. To ensure that the process is transparent in line with the Government’s Code of Conduct on Consultation responses can only be accepted if you provide your name with your response. The purpose of consultation is not to be a referendum but an information, views and evidence gathering exercise from which to take an informed decision. In any consultation exercise the responses received do not guarantee changes will be made to what has been proposed. 6 4.0 Information on the Representation of the People Bill 2014 4.1 The draft Bill, which can be found at Appendix 1 to this document, should be read in conjunction with the Representation of the People Act 1995, which can be found at Appendix 2.