1. The Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) Amendment (Scotland) Order 2020 [draft] was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 14 January 2020 and referred to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee (SPPA Committee).

2. The draft Order was made in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 7 (1) and (2), 11(3) and (4) of the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013(a).

3. The draft Order proposes amendments to the Representation of the People Act 1983 to enable changes to be made to the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 in order to reform the annual canvass.

4. The draft Order makes the following changes to the 1983 Act—

   • Article 3 amends section 9A(2) in relation to the steps that a registration officer must take for the purposes of complying with his duty to maintain the register of local government electors.

   • Article 4 amends section 9D of that Act by giving a further example of a function that may be conferred on the Electoral Commission by regulations and by adding to the list of examples for which a registration officer may make house to house inquiries for the purpose of the canvass.

   • Article 5 amends paragraph 3C of schedule 2 to allow Scottish Ministers to make regulations authorising or requiring a registration officer conducting a canvass for the purposes of a register of local government electors in Scotland.

5. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the draft Order on 28 January 2020 and indicated in its 6th Report, 2020 that it did not need to draw the Parliament's attention to the instrument.

6. At the SPPA Committee’s third meeting on 30 January 2020, it took evidence on the Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) Amendment (Scotland Order 2020 [draft] from—

   Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans;

   Ewan McCaig, Solicitor, Legal Directorate, Maria McCann, Head of Elections Team, and Kenneth Pentland, Senior Policy Officer, Scottish Government.

7. Motion S5M-20564 was lodged by Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans, and supported by Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations.

8. Following the evidence session, Graeme Dey moved Motion S5M-20564 that the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) Amendment (Scotland) Order 2020 [draft] be approved.

9. The motion was agreed to without division.

10. The evidence taken and the debate can be found in the Official Report for the SPPA Committee meeting of 30 January 2020.

3rd Meeting 2020 (Session 5), Thursday 30 January 2020

Subordinate legislation: The Committee took evidence on the Representation of the People (Data Matching) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 [draft] and the Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) Amendment (Scotland) Order 2020 [draft] from—

Graeme Dey, Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans;

Ewan McCaig, Solicitor, Legal Directorate, Maria McCann, Head of Elections Team, and Kenneth Pentland, Senior Policy Officer, Scottish Government.

Subordinate legislation: Graeme Dey moved—S5M-20564—That the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee recommends that the Representation of the People (Annual Canvass) Amendment (Scotland) Order 2020 [draft] be approved.

The motion was agreed to.