To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential for QR code payment systems to reduce administrative costs associated with parking enforcement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential for QR code payment systems to reduce administrative costs associated with parking enforcement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistency between local authorities in the application of financial penalties for landlords found to have serious hazards in their rented properties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistency between local authorities in the application of financial penalties for landlords found to have serious hazards in their rented properties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the capacity of local authority environmental health teams to enforce the new financial penalties on landlords who do not repair Category 1 hazards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the capacity of local authority environmental health teams to enforce the new financial penalties on landlords who do not repair Category 1 hazards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of civil penalties expected to be issued under the new Renters Rights enforcement regime during each of the next three years and (b) the revenue local authorities are...

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of civil penalties expected to be issued under the new Renters Rights enforcement regime during each of the next three years and (b) the revenue local authorities are...

Lords motion to take note of the regulatory regime for political party finance and the role of the Electoral Commission. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of the regulatory regime for political party finance and the role of the Electoral Commission. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, at the core of any western liberal democracy is trust. The citizen must trust the institutions that make up their democracy and the people within those institutions. They must trust also that the oversight arrangements will work and, if someone or something breaches that trust, that there will...

My Lords, at the core of any western liberal democracy is trust. The citizen must trust the institutions that make up their democracy and the people within those institutions. They must trust also that the oversight arrangements will work and, if someone or something breaches that trust, that there will...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and to thank him for initiating this short debate. I agree entirely with his opening remarks in relation to what has happened in Scotland. Even my guide dog would have been able to see the motor home,...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and to thank him for initiating this short debate. I agree entirely with his opening remarks in relation to what has happened in Scotland. Even my guide dog would have been able to see the motor home,...

My Lords, I join the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, in thanking the noble Earl and congratulating him on introducing this debate. It is a timely and incredibly important subject. I speak as a veteran, at various stages in a long and chequered career, of engaging in cross-party talks on party...

My Lords, I join the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, in thanking the noble Earl and congratulating him on introducing this debate. It is a timely and incredibly important subject. I speak as a veteran, at various stages in a long and chequered career, of engaging in cross-party talks on party...

My Lords, in following the noble Lord, Lord Maude, with whom I worked in the coalition many years ago, I am thinking of the 2022 Act, through which the Conservative Government were certainly trying to advantage themselves and disadvantage their competitors. That is one of the reasons why we have...

My Lords, in following the noble Lord, Lord Maude, with whom I worked in the coalition many years ago, I am thinking of the 2022 Act, through which the Conservative Government were certainly trying to advantage themselves and disadvantage their competitors. That is one of the reasons why we have...

My Lords, I have learned much from the debate so far, and we will learn a lot from the speeches still to come. It is a particular pleasure to speak after the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull. I am conscious that I am somewhat outside my comfort zone in speaking today,...

My Lords, I have learned much from the debate so far, and we will learn a lot from the speeches still to come. It is a particular pleasure to speak after the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull. I am conscious that I am somewhat outside my comfort zone in speaking today,...

My Lords, I welcome this debate into this important matter, but more to help put the record straight than to add further fuel to the misconception about how mainstream political parties raise funds. The noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, raised some extremely important points, but the situations he illustrated were criminal...

My Lords, I welcome this debate into this important matter, but more to help put the record straight than to add further fuel to the misconception about how mainstream political parties raise funds. The noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, raised some extremely important points, but the situations he illustrated were criminal...

My Lords, Labour’s 2024 manifesto promised to

“protect democracy by strengthening the rules around donations to political parties”—

an aim shared, I am sure, by all of us from whichever party or none. Trust in politics, Parliament, our system of government and lawmaking is crucial for the maintenance of democracy. Sadly, such...

My Lords, Labour’s 2024 manifesto promised to

“protect democracy by strengthening the rules around donations to political parties”—

an aim shared, I am sure, by all of us from whichever party or none. Trust in politics, Parliament, our system of government and lawmaking is crucial for the maintenance of democracy. Sadly, such...

My Lords, it is very good that we are having this discussion today; I want to raise two issues. The first is the role of the Electoral Commission and the second is the composition of the electoral register.

On the first, I cannot entirely agree with the general approval of the...

My Lords, it is very good that we are having this discussion today; I want to raise two issues. The first is the role of the Electoral Commission and the second is the composition of the electoral register.

On the first, I cannot entirely agree with the general approval of the...

My Lords, I declare an interest as I have been advising the charity Spotlight on Corruption on these issues. I am grateful to the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for initiating this debate, since what is more important than the integrity of our electoral system?

Political party finance goes to the heart...

My Lords, I declare an interest as I have been advising the charity Spotlight on Corruption on these issues. I am grateful to the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for initiating this debate, since what is more important than the integrity of our electoral system?

Political party finance goes to the heart...

My Lords, I start by thanking the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for introducing this debate on such an important subject for our country. I declare my interest as a former chief executive of the Conservative Party and indeed a donor to the party for over 25 years, although not on...

My Lords, I start by thanking the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for introducing this debate on such an important subject for our country. I declare my interest as a former chief executive of the Conservative Party and indeed a donor to the party for over 25 years, although not on...

Shame.

Shame.

A great shame. I come to this debate from a slightly different angle, perhaps, from other noble Lords. I have always believed that assisting the work of a political party that shares one’s views and values is a form of public service. As a party, the Conservative Party has always...

A great shame. I come to this debate from a slightly different angle, perhaps, from other noble Lords. I have always believed that assisting the work of a political party that shares one’s views and values is a form of public service. As a party, the Conservative Party has always...

The noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, introduced the debate with his usual courtesy and wisdom, but he reminded us that, as a highlander, for all the courtesy, he carries a claymore. I cannot follow him in that—I am a boring lowlander.

I want to support the plea from the noble Lord, Lord...

The noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, introduced the debate with his usual courtesy and wisdom, but he reminded us that, as a highlander, for all the courtesy, he carries a claymore. I cannot follow him in that—I am a boring lowlander.

I want to support the plea from the noble Lord, Lord...

My Lords, thank you for allowing me to speak in the gap. I declare an interest, having been the election lawyer to the Labour Party for many decades. I will talk about one small, narrow issue. One frustrating issue is the consolidation of the

Representation of the People Act—the number...

My Lords, thank you for allowing me to speak in the gap. I declare an interest, having been the election lawyer to the Labour Party for many decades. I will talk about one small, narrow issue. One frustrating issue is the consolidation of the

Representation of the People Act—the number...

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for such a helpful and timely debate. As we have heard from the contributions today, it is useful to debate this topic in advance of legislation coming to this House, but with a step back from...

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for such a helpful and timely debate. As we have heard from the contributions today, it is useful to debate this topic in advance of legislation coming to this House, but with a step back from...