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Table C: Fixed penalty notices issued for the endorsable offence of driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks( 1) by police force area, England and Wales, 2003( 2) to 2006
Police force area	2003( 2)	2004	2005	2006
Avon and Somerset	5	47	63	115
Bedfordshire	0	0	62	154
Cambridgeshire	0	63	53	138
Cheshire	0	40	101	203
Cleveland	48	70	159	102
Cumbria	0	0	0	0
Derbyshire	0	0	0	112
Devon and Cornwall	0	0	42	80
Dorset	0	0	0	0
Durham	0	0	7	13
Essex	0	0	6	362
Gloucestershire	0	0	0	3
Greater Manchester	9	44	13	3
Hampshire	0	111	125	393
Hertfordshire	11	177	389	532
Humberside	0	0	0	0
Kent	10	12	31	249
Lancashire	42	91	174	409
Leicestershire	34	62	19	212
Lincolnshire	0	0	0	46
London, City of	2	21	9	51
Merseyside	0	0	0	102
Metropolitan Police	43	147	490	1,408
Norfolk	0	0	0	(3)—
Northamptonshire	5	40	93	74
Northumbria	38	7	4	12
North Yorkshire	33	95	92	121
Nottinghamshire	21	42	101	162
South Yorkshire	0	0	0	0
Staffordshire	36	122	152	274
Suffolk	0	0	0	95
Surrey	0	0	0	12
Sussex	0	0	0	115
Thames Valley	0	0	0	0
Warwickshire	31	50	70	146
West Mercia	0	0	32	281
West Midlands	0	37	0	3
West Yorkshire	3	46	104	328
Wiltshire	0	0	0	141
Dyfed-Powys	0	0	0	0
Gwent	0	0	0	0
North Wales	87	139	297	200
South Wales	0	0	0	0
England and Wales	458	1,463	2,688	6,651
(1) An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 143 (2). (2) As from 1 June 2003, ‘driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks’ became a fixed penalty offence. (3) Force unable to supply data due to technical reasons. Notes: 1. Offenders are subject to a £200 fixed penalty. However this can be increased to a maximum of £5,000 if the matter goes to court. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Electoral Register

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the percentage of voter registration is estimated to be in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority area in England; [218824]

(2) what the target level for voter registration is; [218827]

(3) what plans he has to enable local authorities to maximise voter registration. [218828]

Bridget Prentice: The Government have not made any estimate of the percentage of voter registration in each constituency and local authority area in England. The Electoral Commission estimated that 3.5 million eligible electors were not registered to vote in their report, Understanding Electoral Registration, which was published in September 2005. However the number of electors registered in England continues to grow and between 2 December 2006 and 1 December 2007 the number of parliamentary electors grew from 37,588,775 to 37,817,466 and the number of local government electors grew from 38,223,259 to 38,599,775.

The Government have not set any target level for voter registration, as we believe that all eligible electors should be registered to vote. To support this aim we have taken a number of steps to increase voter registration rates. Section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 placed a new duty on electoral registration officers to take all necessary steps to maintain the electoral register, including sending the annual canvass form more than once, making house to house inquiries and inspecting records that they are permitted to inspect. It is for the ERO to decide on the best steps to use in conjunction with their local knowledge to ensure that requirements for making contact with persons and maintaining the register are complied with. To support such activities we have made £2.5 million available each financial year under our Participation Fund, which allows EROs to apply for additional funding to assist them in promoting electoral awareness within their areas.

The Act also includes a provision for the Electoral Commission to introduce new performance standards for EROs. The Electoral Commission is currently developing these standards and the final set of standards will be published during July 2008. A copy of these standards will be laid before the House and the information obtained from local authorities as a consequence will give us a better understanding of the actions taken to increase registration.

Incapacity Benefit: Fraud

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people previously in receipt of incapacity benefit who have had their entitlement to benefit withdrawn following a medical assessment appealed against the decision in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those appeals were successful. [219451]

Bridget Prentice: The Tribunals Service holds data on the number of appeals made against decisions regarding incapacity benefit. This includes information on anyone who may have been refused incapacity benefit on their initial claim. It is not possible to specify the number of appeals made by people who have previously been in receipt of incapacity benefit and who have subsequently had their entitlement to the benefit withdrawn following a medical assessment.

Between April 2007 to March 2008, the number of incapacity benefit appeals listed for hearing was: 65,723; the number of cases heard at hearing was: 57,806. Of these, 29,636 (45.1 per cent.) cases were successful.

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