Calls for Holyrood to be given legislative control over Scottish Parliament elections following last year's voting debacle have been rejected in Westminster.

Scottish Secretary Des Browne said there was "no compelling case" to change the present legislative arrangements under which the Westminster government has ultimate control over the electoral arrangements.

The SNP cabinet stated last night it was "angry and disappointed" with the verdict which came in the Scotland Office's formal response to two reports on the 2007 Holyrood election in which nearly 150,000 Scottish Parliament ballots were rejected.

A report by Canadian elections expert Ron Gould recommended reforms, including considering switching responsibility for Scottish Parliament elections to Edinburgh. Mr Gould said the Scottish Government was the "logical" body to have jurisdiction, although he later qualified this to say legislative responsibility could remain at Westminster.

The Gould report also called for an end to overnight counting but Mr Browne said this tradition would stay. The practice of allowing party descriptions instead of registered names would be discontinued. Last year SNP list candidates carried the ballot paper tag "Alex Salmond for First Minister", a tactic which rival parties said caused confusion.

Mr Browne said the UK government is taking forward five recommendations. These were reverting to a manual count; using separate ballot papers for the constituency and regional votes; a longer time between the close of nominations and the date of an election; no changes to Holyrood electoral law within the six months before an election; and consolidation of legislation on the conduct of Scottish Parliament election.