Letter: Complaint to the Electoral Commission
16th September 2004

North East NO Campaign
Frederick Street,
Sunderland,
Tyne and Wear
SR1 1NF

16th September 2004

The Chairman,
The Electoral Commission,
Trevelyan House,
London SW1P 2HW

Dear Sir,

Referendum on a Regional Assembly in the North East

Leaflet issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

I enclose for your information copies of a formal complaint which I have made to the National Audit Office concerning the advertisements and leaflet issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister prior to the referendum in the North East on regional government. There has been a clear misuse of public money. My initial complaint was made on 7th September; I have advised the National Audit Office of further inaccuracies today.

Members of your staff have seen copies of the leaflet and advertisements during their visits to the region.

I have written to the ODPM to ask who authorised the distribution of the adverts and leaflet.

It is now too late for the ODPM to correct the misleading information which has been circulated to every house in the North East; your staff made it clear at their public meetings in the region that no further literature would be issued by the government in the period starting 28 days prior to the ballot papers going out on 18th October.

I do not see how the referendum can go ahead on 4th November: voters cannot be asked to make a decision when they have been furnished with such inaccurate information – at best, misleading and at worst, complete lies.

The situation is clearly urgent and I shall be obliged for your comments at an early date; please also let me know what action you propose to take.

Yours faithfully,

Judith Wallace
Chairman, North East No Campaign

Cc Douglas Stewart, Electoral Commission

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Letter: Complaint to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
16th September 2004

North East NO Campaign
Frederick Street,
Sunderland
SR1 1NF

16th September 2004

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister,
London
SW1A 2WH

Dear Sir,

Referendum on Regional Government in the North East

A formal complaint has been made to the National Audit Office about the misuse of public money with regard to the advertisements and literature issued by the ODPM prior to the referendum on regional government in the North East, and in particular with regard to the leaflet entitled "Have Your Say".

The complaint relates to the misleading information and inaccuracies in the leaflet, which has been sent to every household in the area. The whole tenor of the leaflet is promoting a particular political view and favouring a "Yes" vote.

The inaccuracies and omissions include, inter alia,

1. The statement that members of an assembly would be elected by proportional representation, when in fact only a minority would be so elected

2. The failure to make it clear that running costs after the first year could be substantially higher than the 5p per week quoted for Band D properties

3. The omission of the fact that central government would retain powers to ensure that assemblies address national priorities

4. The substantial error in the estimated costs for option B in the local government reorganisation for County Durham

I should be obliged if you will tell me who was responsible for authorising the distribution of the adverts and the leaflet.

The Electoral Commission has already publicly stated that no further government literature can be issued during the period of 28 days prior to the distribution of the ballot papers.

How can a referendum proceed when voters have been furnished, at public expense, with inaccurate and biased "information"?

In view of the fact that the ballot papers are due to be distributed on 18th October, I look forward to receiving an early reply.

Yours faithfully,

Judith Wallace
Chairman, North East No Campaign

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Letter: Complaint to the National Audit Office
16th September 2004

North East No Campaign
Frederick Street
Sunderland
SR1 1NF

16th September 2004

National Audit Office
3rd Floor, Higham House
New Bridge Street
West Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
NE1 8AU

 

Dear Sir,

Referendum on a Regional Assembly in the North East

I refer to my letter to you dated 7th September, asking you to investigate my complaint about the money wrongly spent by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, issuing advertisements and leaflets which are inaccurate and misleading and which promote a particular political view.

Two further inaccuracies have now come to light; both are contained in the leaflet entitled "Have Your Say", which I enclosed with my original letter:

1.On the page headed "A new opportunity for the North East", there is a section entitled "How would the new elected assembly operate?" It reads:

"The Government intends that a North East assembly would consist of around 25 elected members to represent different views and parts of the region. They would be elected – as in Scotland, Wales and London – by a system of proportional representation to help prevent domination by a single party.."

This is a lie.

The Draft Regional Assemblies Bill, section 3, states that an assembly is to consist of both constituency members and regional members; the constituency members will be members for electoral areas (known as constituencies) within the region, whilst the regional members will be members for the whole region.

Section 10 states that "each constituency member of an assembly is to be returned under the simple majority system".

In the Explanatory Notes, point number 15, it states that "the precise division between the number of each type of elected member would be decided by an order of the Secretary of State but it is expected that the constituency members would make up the majority"; thus, in other words, the bulk of the members will be elected on the first–past–the-post system, not by proportional representation. The statements in the leaflet are untrue.

2. The second additional accuracy relates to the part of the leaflet which covers local government reorganisation in County Durham. (In Northumberland and Durham, voters will be asked in the referendum a second question on the alteration of the current system). Two options are given to the voters, A and B, and the leaflet states that the Government will pay the upfront costs; "these costs should be less than £37 million for option A and £38 million for option B".

This is a lie.

It has now come to light that the costs for option B will actually be £47 million. The electorate is being asked to vote on the basis of incorrect information.

These are further examples of the misuse of taxpayers’ money: please investigate.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs J. A. Wallace
Chairman, North East No Campaign

Cc Douglas Stewart, Head of Referendums, The Electoral Commission