Ballot Secrecy Bill [HL]

Lord Hayward Excerpts

Committee stage
Friday 18th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hayward (Con)]

My Lords, much has changed since we debated this Bill at Second Reading on 15 July. I pause initially to draw attention to the time as indicated on the annunciator—14:00 hours—as one of the things that has happened since Second Reading is that Sir David Butler died only a few days ago and his funeral commences at 2 pm this afternoon. I and, I am sure, the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, are sorry that we are not present at that funeral. Like so many, I learned at Sir David’s feet—if I can use the term “at his feet” to mean from a television screen. His sheer enthusiasm and skill at communicating the detail of election results and general psephology—a word he first used in books—was substantial. I am sure we will all miss him, particularly because he is probably the last link we have with the 1945 general election. He was also president of the Pebble Club, of which I am pleased to be a member.

When I first spoke at Nuffield College, I thought I had achieved the ultimate. I now find myself speaking on election law in the House of Lords Chamber, and I feel I may have doubled up on lifetime achievements in election matters.

With those few comments on Sir David, I thank the Minister and her officials for the assistance I have received throughout, the varied ministerial teams since 15 July and the opposition spokespersons, as we have progressed. The Minister referred to democracy volunteers, and I also thank Michael Bleakley, who I probably bothered to hell in trying to establish precisely what I should do, and when and how I should do it. I appreciate his patience with me in achieving what we now have.

I am pleased that this series of amendments are government amendments. The Minister will not have seen me smiling from the Bench behind her when she quoted, in conclusion, the comments I was going to make on the reasons why I have been converted to these amendments. I did not think the wording was perfect originally, but I understand the logic and I think it is sound. As the Minister also said, I hope that these amendments will give an opportunity to the Electoral Commission, which has also provided assistance over the last few months, to change its guidance so that it is clear to all and sundry how to behave in a polling station, without stopping those who need assistance or accompaniment—whether they are disabled in some form or are accompanied by somebody underage—from receiving it.

Overall, these amendments meet with my approval. I am pleased that they are being taken forward by the Government. I welcome their support on this matter and I hope that the Bill will be able to progress with the amendments included.

Local Government (Disqualification) Bill

Lord Hayward Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 4th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hayward (Con)]

My Lords, I approach the Bill from a somewhat Janus point of view. I welcome its contents but, rather like the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie, I am concerned about its nature, in that it does not cover other elements. When I spoke at the Second Reading of the Elections Bill, I identified—the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman picked up this—that there are 25 major pieces of legislation relating to elections. Our election law is a mess. Unfortunately, this piece of legislation just adds another point to it. A matter that I will return to in Committee on the Elections Bill is precisely this point: we are passing a piece of legislation to exclude certain people from certain elected offices, but we are not excluding those same people from other elected offices. There is a complete mess in relation to those banned from local councils, those banned from standing for office as police and crime commissioners and those banned from being in this House or the House of Commons. It is somewhat ironic that there are fewer restrictions on people being elected as Members of Parliament than as police and crime commissioners and councillors. Somebody could therefore become Prime Minister with far fewer restrictions imposed on them than if they were to be a local councillor.

In conclusion, I add one other observation. It is not directly relevant to the Bill but it relates to a frame of mind. There is a tendency in this day and age for all parties to disown candidates who have made comments on social media that are regrettable but were often made when they were youngsters. Then, in the haste and fear of an election, the candidate is disowned and dropped. All parties should address this issue. It is not relevant to the Bill, but it is well worth all parties giving serious consideration to how they cope with the content of social media which in many cases people made in their youth.

Overall, I welcome the Bill but regret the circumstances under which it is coming forward because, as the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie, said, there should be other similar disqualifications and a general review of disqualifications for all elected offices.

Business and Planning Bill

Lord Hayward Excerpts

Committee stage & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

As I am sure all noble Lords do, I have huge faith in small business owners, but I also want owners of bigger businesses to recognise their responsibilities and that the managers of their branches and local premises are local leaders in their area too. Big businesses should ensure that their local managers understand their responsibilities and their status in their local communities.

[Lord Hayward (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I first thank the noble Earl for his letter, which he sent in response to a number of the comments I made on Second Reading. I greatly appreciate the consideration that both he and the officials have given to the variety of points I made at the time.

I pick up on the response the Minister gave on one particular matter in the last group of amendments. I considered putting in to speak on both these groups but decided to concentrate on just one. On the question of marking out, possibly by some form of barrier, I acknowledge that you could create a real difficulty in blocking pavements by putting in another barrier, but in this day and age when you can rope off sections, the vast majority of establishments would not take up a large area by doing so. I ask the Minister not to mandate a requirement, but to encourage all restaurants to give serious consideration to some form of identification or demarcation of an area.

On these amendments and the comments by my noble friend Lord Balfe and the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, we are talking here about restaurants and events in the summer. I support her in her observations on the comments made on the radio yesterday about Soho; it was a marked change. On an earlier group, the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, made the comment that, as far she could assess, the problems in Richmond in most cases arose not specifically from the pubs or restaurants, but from off-sales and people wandering around areas with drink they had bought in an off-licence rather than a restaurant.

On the timescales involved, I have sympathy with the issue of seven to 14 days, particularly at this time of year, and do not necessarily believe that it would be unfair on an applicant. We are dealing with the summer. It is important that we make progress because, after all is said and done, summer in Britain does not last very long. If we delay unduly, the restaurants will not get the benefit, but it is difficult for a council and residents to register concerns.

Having said that, I have a point in relation to what the noble Lord, Lord Harris, said. I have in front of me a letter from one of the central London councils. It is a parking offence and is not mine but my lodger’s. It was sent out by the council and says it starts counting from the day it was sent; I think that is standard procedure for notices. My lodger was told he had to make the payment within the set days. Although I disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Harris, about some matters, what is relevant here is that at this time of year it is difficult for residents and councils to deal with matters if an application goes to one or two people who happen to be on holiday. As my noble friend Lord Lucas said, it may involve different local authorities and there may need to be cross-consultation.

Unless there is a strong case for it to be seven days, I certainly support the idea that there should be 14 days of consultation rather than seven. Having said that, as I understand it, many of the obligations imposed as a result of these amendments are already imposed on applicants for such licences and the local authorities giving consideration to them. I am willing to be corrected on that, either by another supporter of the amendments or by the Minister.

[Lord Naseby [V]]

My Lords, my noble friend Lady Noakes should have been listened to. I say again that I lived opposite a pub; I knew the publican. I knew the local councillor for the ward in Islington. In my own ward, up in Highview, I knew where the pubs were. I cannot believe that in this day and age and at this point in time, the local councillors do not know which of their pubs are considering making use of this legislation. I am certain they do. Furthermore, I suspect all the local residents know exactly which pubs are likely to want to do this pavement extension business, so I say to my noble friends: we need to get on with it.

I listened to the noble Lord, Lord Harris of Haringey. I remember the days when I was the leader of the London Borough of Islington and say that, if anything was stretched out, it was when we were discussing joint issues with Haringey—but that was a long time ago. Seven days is pretty reasonable at this point in time. I say to your Lordships: let us get on with it.