Tag: Chris Ruane

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, columns 555-6W, on electoral register, Northern Ireland, what actions resulted from his discussions with the Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office concerning the schools programme for electoral registration.

Greg Clark

The Government has made the Rock Enrol learning resource freely available on the Gov.UK and Times Education Supplement website amongst others.

Additionally, the recent introduction of online registration in England and Wales will make it more convenient for young people to register to vote.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what number and percentage of electors were added to the electoral register as a result of the implementation of standard three door to door canvassing in each constituent part and region of the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that they do not hold the data requested. The data collected annually from EROs is household-level data rather than elector level data, reflecting the household nature of the annual canvass.

The data collected includes the number of household canvass returns made via different response methods – including personal canvasser, and this is available for each year from 2008 on their website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, with reference to the Answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 510W, on electoral register: young people, how much funding his Department has made available to (a) Rock Enroll and (b) Bite the Ballot in each year for which data is available; and how many people each such organisation has directly registered in each year for which data is available.

Greg Clark

The Government is supportive of organisations that promote democratic engagement such as Bite the Ballot.

Cabinet Office and Bite the Ballot co-developed the Rock Enrol learning resource in 2012/2013. The value of the contract was £25,700. The Government has made Rock Enrol freely available freely available on the gov.uk and Times Education Supplement websites.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will make it their policy to gather information on registration levels on an annual basis.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Electoral Commission informs me that they collect from every ERO, and publish, annual electoral registration statistics covering a range of topics including the number of electors on the registers, response rates to the annual canvass, numbers of additions and deletions on the registers and levels of carry forward.

This data collection will be more frequent during the transition to individual electoral registration (IER).

The Commission further informs me that they report periodically on the overall levels of accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers. Such studies are costly to conduct and it is not therefore feasible to conduct them annually. There are two such studies planned as part of the Commission’s approach to monitoring the implementation of IER.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what additional central government funding is available to electoral registration officers for the purpose of electoral registration in each of the last 10 years; and which local authorities were successful in bidding for such funding.

Greg Clark

The following additional amounts were available for the purpose of electoral registration in the last 10 years:

2007/2008 – £934,741

2008/2009 – £544,391

2009/2010 – £427,190

2010/2011 – £54,708

2011/12 – no additional funding

2012/13 – no additional funding

2013/14 – £4,857,018

2014/15 – £29,992,993

In the financial years 2007/2008 to 2010/2011, local authorities were able to bid for funding from the Participation Fund, which was abolished due to lack of demand. A table listing those local authorities which received money from this fund has been placed in the Library of the House.

The Government has provided funding in 2013/14 and 2014/15, in addition to the Revenue Support Grant, for every local authority and Valuation Joint Board in England, Wales and Scotland for the net additional cost of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER).

In addition, in 2013/14 every local authority and Valuation Joint Board in England, Wales and Scotland received a share of £3,984,068funding to support the costs of activities to maximise electoral registration.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-06-26.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, on which dates the Electoral Commission will report to (a) Parliament and (b) individual hon. Members on the progress on the implementation of individual electoral registration.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Commission informs me that it will report to both Parliament and individual Members at appropriate points, and in line with its statutory duties throughout the implementation of Individual Electoral Registration.

The Commission intends to publish updates on progress at three key points in the transition, as laid out in its March report. This is available on the Commission’s website here:

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/166511/Readiness-for-the-transition-to-IER-Progress-Report-March-2014.pdf

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