Scottish Parliament Political Parties Panel meeting minutes: 8 March 2022

John Hardy welcomed those present and apologies were noted.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 20 January 2022 were approved. Scott Martin (SM) noted that as stated in Paragraph 3.5 he would like to discuss matters further with Superintendent Faulds and Andy O'Neill agreed to arrange this. SM also noted that as there was another panel member with the same initials, he suggested identifying his comments as (SXM).

Legislation - (AON) said all legislation for the election was now in place.

Electoral Commission Guidance - (AON) Confirmed that all guidance was now on the website and the Commission's advice service now active to parties. He reiterated the standing offer to brief any groups and said the Commission would be attending party conferences this month to host a series of such events.

Chris Highcock (CH) said Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers had been busy getting everything in place for delivery of the election. He said the event on 27 January had been a useful exercise and was content all Returning Officers were in a good place to deliver the election. They had engaged with public Health Scotland for guidance on how best to ensure a safe public event on 5 and 6 May and would use the same baseline measures as last year, though the general direction of travel probably indicated it could be more relaxed. He confirmed all Returning Officers were offering pre-submission validation of nomination papers by email and a range of directions had been issued. (SXM) said they planned to appoint one Depute Nominating Officer per authority.

(CH) noted that Returning Officers were working with the Scottish Government to ensure that the e-counting system was secure.

(CH) and James Kelly (JK) clarified the spreadsheet composite would be published as a complete finished document on the EMB website listing results of all 355 wards in Scotland and hope this would be by late afternoon on Friday 6 May. It would be possible to drill down into the result of each of the wards. As each result was declared, those reports from the system would be downloaded to a memory stick (one per contest) and published on the relevant council website as soon as available. (CH) agreed they would encourage use of the hashtag as (SXM) said this made the results easier to follow.

Catherine Heggie (CHe) said the Electoral Commission’s voter registration campaign, which targets those who need a reminder to ensure they are registered, would launch on 11 March and run across a range of platforms. The Commission’s paid digital campaign to target 16 and 17 year olds would also launch on 11 March and run until the registration deadline. The Commission would then run a paid campaign from 19 April until polling day on Facebook, which would explain voting under STV. An information booklet would be delivered to all households from 28 March, and the information included was available in BSL and other formats on the Commission’s website. (CHe) offered to provide a summary of all the voter information resources available from the Commission. Work continued with partners to reach recently-enfranchised voters, and the Commission would be running ‘Welcome to Your Vote’ Day on 10 March to raise awareness amongst qualifying foreign citizens, with support from EROs, councils and third sector organisations.

(XSM) asked about candidacy rights of foreign nationals in the UK Government’s Elections Bill. He understood it was based on reciprocation between EU member states and asked if further consideration in relation to foreign nationals standing for election (who are EU nationals) but from a State that is not reciprocating. Was this because of treaties negotiated by the UK Government?

Hannah Standring (HS) had provided a written update which had been circulated. 

Scottish Government

Nothing further to add.

Scotland Office/Cabinet Office

A written update had been circulated.

Boundaries Scotland

Isabel Drummond-Murray (ID-M) said they were mid-way through the secondary consultation of Westminster Parliamentary constituencies but, disappointingly, five hearings around Scotland had been poorly attended. 

Boundary Commission for Scotland

(ID-M) said they were now looking at presentations for the Scottish Parliament review with the first consultation in around 12 months. There would be a further update at the next meeting. 

Royal Mail

Scott Forsyth (SF) said that he now had full responsibility for Scotland and this would be his priority. He had received 19 out of 31 voting plans. He asked (CH) when the weekly calls should commence and said he should come to him if anything was required. (SXM) asked for contact details of Scott Forsyth to be shared. 

Electoral Management Board for Scotland - Electoral Registration

Pete Wildman (PW) said all was on track with the election being the first focus, followed by the next canvass between July and November and engagement ongoing with the Department for Levelling Up to introduce voter ID in December this year. This was the first time the new style canvass had been done and it was hard to say what the trends were but through learning and exchange of ideas they would see what worked and what had not. (SXM) asked about the UK Elections Bill and where that was with online postal vote application. (PW) indicated June 2023 was the date for that going live and as it was a reserved power, it was just for Westminster absent votes unless the Scottish Government chose to legislate for that. 

The Electoral Commission

Nothing more to add. 

2022

16 May at 11am

Pre-meeting 10:30 and meeting proper at 11am