Chamber and committees

Depending on my not adding anything further to it. It all comes down to the minister’s discipline. Towards the end of the year, or maybe sooner, we should have the consultation. Then we can move on. As with everything else, the year in which we manage to introduce the bill depends on our getting time for it in the programme for government, but it will definitely be part of this session’s programme.

No problem. That would be a case of what I said to the deputy convener. Regardless of who the individual is or which nation pulls out, this Parliament will follow suit.

I used to have a colleague called Jim Mitchell, who was a Scottish National Party councillor in Renfrewshire for 35 years, and he used to say that something like 3 per cent of the population actually become involved in politics and then we spend the rest of the time falling out and shouting at each other. He used to ask, “Why?”

Thank you, and good morning. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the bill. It seeks to ensure compliance with treaties that the United Kingdom Government has agreed to in relation to voting and candidacy rights in local government elections. Treaties have been agreed with Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain and Poland.

At present, all foreign nationals with any form of leave to remain in the United Kingdom can vote in Scottish local government elections, but candidacy rights are limited to people with indefinite leave to remain or pre-settled status. We anticipate that most European Union nationals who are currently resident in Scotland already have candidacy rights.

The bill is tightly focused on the treaties that I mentioned. Although our law on voting rights already complies with the treaties, the bill is needed to ensure compliance in relation to candidacy rights. It will do that by extending candidacy rights to any nationals of Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain and Poland who have a limited form of leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

Last autumn, the Government’s shared policy programme undertook to develop legislation on electoral reform to enable more people to stand as candidates in Scottish Parliament and local government elections. I have previously outlined to the committee my intention to consult later this year on a number of electoral reform proposals. I expect that consultation to consider issues surrounding a wider expansion of candidacy rights—for example, to all foreign nationals with limited leave to remain or to 16 and 17-year-olds.

I look forward to discussing the bill with the committee, and I am completely happy to answer any questions that members may have.

It is concerning but, again, that is down to the UK Government and what an individual’s rights are and their place in the country at that stage. It is outwith my scope and is more to do with colleagues in the UK Government.

I might have misunderstood your question. I was saying that I will send you a copy of the letter, and I will do that timeously. Are you asking me about the issue that the deputy convener brought up?

For example, someone might come into the country via Glasgow and then get a job in Aberdeen, say, or go to university elsewhere. Getting the data is kind of difficult, because we are talking about what happens in normal life.

No matter how keen I or other ministers might be for that to remain the case, it would be difficult for us to do that in the bill. After all, it is up to the UK Government to sign the treaties. It would be impossible for us to extend those rights to a country that the UK Government had decided not to have a treaty with any more.

I agree with your second option.

Again, it is a small number of people. Looking at it logically, we would probably say that most people, when they come into the country, would go into the main urban settlements in Scotland, and those authorities could probably cope with the demand. It is difficult for us to get that data because, when someone comes into the country, they can move as they like. They might arrive in Glasgow but end up living and working in Birmingham or London, and we do not tend to keep data on that. However, in order to give you total clarity, I will bring in Iain Hockenhull, who might be able to give you some detail on the data that we hold.