Seòmar agus comataidhean

Being the Minister for Parliamentary Business, I know that there are plans and plans. I think that the D day landings were probably easier than getting the programme for government together, given the organisation involved. I am not going to make myself a hostage to fortune on that, but we feel comfortable that we will have something in place in 2023, ready for the elections.

I hate to sound as though I am repeating myself, but it would add to the confusion, because we are in a five-year period for devolved elections and every three years people would have to reapply. Even if it is a simple application, can you imagine out there, in the real world, being told that you have to reapply to be able to vote? Someone might have managed to get their postal vote sorted out after moving house in a traumatic situation, so the idea of reapplying for it might seem difficult. That is the problem. In effect, voters have to reapply. It would be a new application every three years, as opposed to the current system, which is a continuation of what we have done before.

It is not for me to decide, but I am fundamentally against voter ID. Democracy means that there is a Conservative Government at Westminster and it decides what it does in its jurisdiction.

It is a concern because, in a busy world, if there are two processes, it is natural that people can get confused. We all know agents in our various political parties who believe that they know the process, but mistakes can be made, so that difference could cause issues.

However, again, I go back to the process that we have had to go through. When we have tried to explain that we think that there is a way of doing things differently, we have more or less been met with, “Speak to the hand,” to use the modern colloquialism. It has been very difficult for us. I am aware that there could be issues, but we believe that we can sort them out in our own bill.

It sounds as though I am repeating myself here, but my Welsh colleague and I had a very long conversation on all aspects of the UK bill and concluded that we would both be going down the route of having our own legislation. Where there are good parts in the UK bill, we will take them, and, where there are parts that we fundamentally disagree with, we will not. The situation could lead to general confusion between the two processes, but we are doing our best to try to ensure, within the powers that we have, that we can deliver for Scotland as my Welsh colleague is trying to deliver for Wales.

Does Iain Hockenhull want to add to that? He is shaking his head. That is unusual—I must have been bang on the money there, convener.

Thank you for asking me along to this morning’s meeting, convener.

Elections are governed by a complex series of interconnecting laws. I must stress from the outset that I am not opposed to developing a common approach to elections across the United Kingdom, if there are benefits for voters and administrators in doing so. However, I have to point out that although the UK Government has briefed us on its proposals there has been no collaboration on them. Instead, UK ministers have set out their plans in the expectation that we will fall into line to avoid creating differences between reserved and devolved elections.

To do so would make a mockery of devolution. Scotland has already established a proud record of innovation in electoral law, with the devolved franchise having been successfully extended to 16 and 17-year-olds and foreign nationals. We are also the first nation in the UK to require digital imprints for online campaign material. The Elections Bill’s attempt in effect to replace that regime is not the result of considered discussion about the merits of different approaches, but is an example of the UK Government taking a very broad view of the internet service reservation—a view that we contest.

There are other areas, such as voter identification, postal voting and the Electoral Commission, on which I am concerned about the UK Government’s approach, but I also recognise that the bill contains less contentious proposals on which I have tried to work with the UK Government in the past.

Our legislative consent memorandum is not a refusal to consider reform. I want to take time to assess the proposals in the bill and to hold a public consultation on the best approach next year. That work will inform a Scottish electoral reform bill to be introduced in 2023. It is also worth stressing that the next major devolved election to be held after the UK bill becomes law will be in 2026.

I am happy to answer members’ questions, convener.

I agree—a lot of the time, people say that we make things difficult for ourselves. It is a small group of individuals, but we are working to the principle that voting needs to be accessible to everyone. No matter how you look at it, it is difficult for us to make it easier for prisoners to vote, because there are all kinds of complex issues. Prisoners could be released early or they could be incarcerated for longer. All kinds of variables make the issue quite difficult and complex for us.

I will ask Iain Hockenhull to give you the detail, but I have given you the mood music. It is a complex situation and we are trying to make sure that it is as simple as possible, but it can be quite challenging.

I do not think so. Iain Hockenhull might be able to give you some more detail on that, but, on the whole, I do not think that there have been issues. There has always been flexibility for people, whatever time they have had to turn up. There will always be times when things will be difficult and a replacement will not be issued, and we have to make sure that we deal with that situation. We have tried to create flexibility so that no one is disenfranchised. Iain Hockenhull can give some more detail.

As always, you make an articulate case. I agree that that would be interesting information for us to look at after the election.

You are correct in saying that the measure is all about the rehabilitation of those who are incarcerated and about bringing them back into society. We are trying to make that as simple and easy as possible.

I think that we should look at the detail, and I have already made a commitment to Ms White that we will look at the data when it comes in after next year’s election.

I am sorry, Mr Mountain, but your sound is quite faint—I did not quite hear you.

Now you are the voice of God.