The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what information he holds on how much (a) central and (b) local government spent on advertising to promote voter registration in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Greg Clark
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of using vehicle registration databases held by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority to increase levels of voter registration as part of his plans for individual electoral registration.
Greg Clark
Officials are currently working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to pilot the use of data from vehicle registration databases and driver licence data to improve levels of voter registration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what the main lessons were from the electoral registration dry run for registration levels under individual voter registration amongst (a) black and ethnic minority, (b) young and (c) low paid and unemployed people.
Greg Clark
The evaluation from the Confirmation Dry Run is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-confirming-electors-through-data-matching .
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what comparative assessment he has made of the estimates made by (a) Experian and (b) the Electoral Commission of the number of unregistered voters in the UK.
Greg Clark
The Government funded the Electoral Commission’s 2011 research into the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register. This informed the approach to the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, including the use of data matching to confirm the majority of current electors on the existing register without their having to make a new application, and the phasing of the transition over two years, which means no one who registered to vote at the last canvass will lose their right to vote at the General Election. Alongside this the Government is funding all local authorities in Great Britain and five national organisations to take steps to boost the completeness and accuracy of the register.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what comparative assessment he has made of the data matching levels of those electoral registration officers who (a) did and (b) did not use local government data matching in the Individual Electoral Registration dry run.
Greg Clark
All 380 EROs in England, Wales and Scotland took part in the Confirmation Dry Run in 2013 which involved matching their electoral registers against data held by the Department for Work and Pensions. The average match rate was approximately 78%.
Following this, 138 local authorities conducted data matching against locally held data sources, such as council tax records. On average this increased these local authorities’ match rates by approximately 7%.
The full evaluation of the Confirmation Dry Run, including local data matching activity, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-confirming-electors-through-data-matching
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will extend the carryover of electors from household registration to individual registration from the General Election 2015 to the freeze date for the next boundary review in December 2015.
Greg Clark
The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 provides for those who have not registered under (Individual Electoral Registration) to be ‘carried forward’ until December 2016, at which point they will be removed from the register if they have not made a successful application to register. The Act contains a provision that allows an Order to be made in Parliament in the summer of 2015 that will conclude ‘carry forward’ in December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of the telephone to confirm continued entitlement to electoral registration; and which local authorities use telephones for that purpose.
Greg Clark
The Electoral Commission collates information on canvass responses (including responses by telephone) as part of its assessment of Electoral Registration Officers’ performance. This data can be found on their website at –
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will consider the merits of ring-fencing funds allocated by his Office to local government for the purpose of voter registration.
Greg Clark
Both the paper forms and the new online registration channel to be used under Individual Electoral Registration have been designed to meet a wide range of accessibility needs. The Government has no current plans to commission such research, but the Electoral Commission is currently aiming to publish its assessment of registration rates under individual electoral registration in July 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will make it his policy to collate information on the (a) amount spent by local authorities on electoral registration, (b) number of staff employed by local authorities on electoral registration and (c) local authorities with the (i) highest and (ii) lowest levels of electoral registration.
Greg Clark
Following the transition to the Individual Electoral Registration. The Electoral Commission aims to establish a model which can provide detailed information on financial spend by Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers, and the activities the expenditure relates to, including the impact on performance.
The Office of National Statistics already holds information on those local authorities with the highest and lowest levels of registration.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, which local authorities have achieved the highest increase in levels of voter registration in the last two years; and what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the practices leading to such increases are adopted in other local authorities.
Greg Clark
In 2012/13 the areas with the five largest percentage increases in the numbers registered on the local government register of electors were:
Tower Hamlets
Wycombe
Cambridge
East Lindsey
City of Edinburgh
In 2011/12 the areas were:
Clackmannanshire
Thanet
West Lothian
City of Edinburgh
Shropshire UA
The Government encourages local authorities to share best practice through the Expert Panel of electoral administrators, and various other forums in place to deliver Individual Electoral Registration.
Guidance has also been available on the Association of Electoral Administrators’ website with examples of good practice which electoral registration officers can use to shape their work.