house of lords official report - United Kingdom Parliament

1125 Political Parties and Elections Bill [17 JUNE 2009]
Organophosphates
1126
been running GLA elections for some years now. I
should explain that the funding that the GLRO would
receive under Section 6(6) of the 2002 Act if he were
appointed would be calculated on the same basis as
that for regional returning officers in other regions and
that for the RRO appointed for London at the June 2009
European elections. In other words, the GLRO will
not be treated any different from other regional returning
officers.
A couple of days ago I saw briefing from the
Electoral Commission which I understand supports
this amendment. The commission says that the experience
that the GLRO gains in carrying out the role may
mean that he or she is best placed to ensure the
efficient running of the European parliamentary elections
in the London region and that he or she should
therefore be appointed in the way that the amendment
provides. I beg to move.
Lord Tunnicliffe: My Lords, this amendment seeks
to provide that the Greater London returning officer
should be eligible for appointment as a regional
returning officer for European parliamentary elections.
The Government see merits in the proposed change
and I am pleased that parliamentary counsel and
Ministry of Justice officials have been able to assist
the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, in the drafting of
the amendment. The GLRO is the chief executive
of the Greater London Authority. The GLRO leads
an experienced elections team which has previously
run successful GLA Assembly and London mayoral
elections.
At European parliamentary elections, regional
returning officers are appointed to each UK electoral
region and they are responsible for the conduct of the
election in their region. Under Section 6 of the European
Parliamentary Elections Act 2002, in England and
Wales the RRO is to be a person who is an acting
returning officer for parliamentary elections and is
designated as an RRO by an order of the Secretary of
State. The GLRO is not able to be appointed as an
RRO under these provisions as he is not an acting
returning officer for parliamentary elections. These
amendments change that position by amending the
European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 to allow
the GLRO to be designated as an RRO. It also provides
that if the GLRO is appointed as RRO for London, he
may call on the assistance of employees of the GLA to
help him carry out his duties as RRO in addition to
the London boroughs in the London region.
There is no reason to doubt that the European
elections in June 2009 were effectively administered in
London under the existing statutory framework. However,
the GLRO has experience of running London-wide
elections and the proposed change would widen the
scope of suitable persons who may be considered as
the RRO for the London region in future European
elections and make it easier to recruit for the post. The
Government are therefore content to accept the
amendment.
Baroness Hamwee: My Lords, I am extremely grateful
for the acceptance of the amendments and the recognition
of the experience, expertise, enthusiasm and dedication
of those who have been running the elections.
Amendment 79 agreed.
Amendment 80
Moved by Baroness Hamwee
80: Clause 24, page 25, line 46, at end insert—
“( ) After subsection (8) there is inserted—
“(9) Where functions are conferred on the proper officer of
the Greater London Authority under subsection (5) in relation to
the London electoral region, the Authority must place the services
of its employees at his disposal for the purpose of assisting him in
the discharge of those functions.””
Amendment 80 agreed.
Consideration on Report adjourned until not before
8.30 pm.
Organophosphates
Question for Short Debate
7.30 pm
Tabled By The Countess of Mar
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they
will reconvene the Interdepartmental Group on
Organophosphates (the Carden Committee).
The Countess of Mar: My Lords, I declare an
interest. I was poisoned by organophosphate sheep
dip in 1989. In fact, it is almost exactly 20 years since I
was doused while helping to dip our sheep. Prior to
that, I had been chronically exposed to a variety of
OPs in common use on farms and in homes. At the
time we were led to believe that OPs were safe if used
as instructed. It was not until 1991, after a long
process of elimination and observation after further
exposures, that the cause of my illness became clear to
me and to my GP. Contrary to received belief, the
signs and symptoms of poisoning were not temporary
and, for me, the effects are still evident today. I am
extremely fortunate in that I have supportive medical
practitioners whose main objective in life is not to
poison me further.
Sheep dipping once or twice yearly in the UK was
compulsory from 1975 to 1992 as part of the regime to
control sheep scab. OPs replaced organochlorines from
the early 1980s after the latter were found to persist in
the environment. It was in 1992 that the noble Lord,
Lord Tyler, then Paul Tyler MP, and I independently
started to ask questions about the safety of using OPs
as veterinary medicines and as both agricultural and
domestic pesticides. Indeed, I almost said, “Welcome
to the ‘Mar and Tyler Show’” because we have been
together on this for so long, but perhaps I should say
the ‘Mar, Tyler and Rooker Show’ because the noble
Lord, Lord Rooker, has also been involved for a long
time. In 1992, the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, and I first
met John Gummer, then the Minister of Agriculture,
to ask him to apply a moratorium on OP sheep dips.
By this time it was becoming clear that OPs were
affecting a significant number of individuals who were
using them or were inadvertently exposed to them. At
first, the Government assured us that these products
were safe and that they presented no risk to human