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26 Feb 2009 : Column 986W—continued
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what guidance he has issued to electoral registration officers on following up non-responses to the electoral canvas (a) by post and (b) via a home visit; and if he will make a statement; [257489]
(2) which local authorities employed doorstep canvassers to compile the 2008 electoral register; and if he will make a statement; [257727]
(3) what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on staffing of their electoral registration departments. [257327]
Mr. Wills: As my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to this exact question from the hon. Gentleman on 18 June 2008, Official Report, column 999W, it is not known how many local authorities employed doorstep canvassers during the 2007 annual canvass, as this information is not collected centrally.
However, the performance standards framework established by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 will allow the collection of data on the performance and activities of electoral administrators, including EROs.
The Electoral Commission published a final set of performance standards for electoral registration officers in Great Britain in July 2008. These standards require EROs to provide information on their use of house to house inquiries and of canvassers. The Commission intends to publish results of ERO self-assessments against the performance standards in spring 2009.
The Electoral Commission is responsible for issuing guidance to EROs on electoral registration matters, including managing the annual canvass and the appointment of canvassing staff. The appointment of permanent members of staff to electoral services departments is the responsibility of local authorities.
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what procedures are in place governing consultation by electoral registration officers of other (a) local and (b) central Government databases for the purposes of
(i) cross-checking and (ii) augmenting their preparation of electoral registers; [257546]
(2) if he will bring forward proposals to amend data protection legislation to allow local and national authorities to share information in order to increase voter registration. [257714]
Mr. Wills: As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, East (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to a similar question from my hon. Friend on 24 June 2008, Official Report, column 242W, relating to the use of databases, Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) are required to take all steps that are necessary for the purpose of complying with their duty to maintain the electoral registers, and these steps include inspecting any record which the ERO is permitted to inspect by law.
Assisting EROs in meeting their obligations falls within the Electoral Commission’s remit, as does issuing guidance to EROs more generally.
The Electoral Commission has issued guidance to EROs encouraging them to use the power to inspect records and advises of the sources that may be inspected, which will help to provide and cross-check additional information to assist them in their registration duties.
The Government remain concerned about the need to address levels of under-registration in Great Britain and is currently considering what further steps can be taken to increase access to national databases by EROs, involving local and public authorities could be established for this purpose.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will issue guidance to local authorities on increasing the rate of voter registration; and if he will produce a league table to indicate each local authority's performance in increasing the rate of voter registration in their area; [257712]
(2) if he will publish the guidelines his Department issues to electoral registration officers on home visits to electors who have not registered to vote; and what assessment he has made of the level of local authority compliance with such guidelines; [257711]
(3) what steps his Department has taken to encourage illiterate and semi-literate electors to register to vote; [257322]
(4) what progress has been made on increasing electoral registration rates; [257329]
(5) what performance indicators were set for each stage of electoral registration in each local authority area in each of the last 12 years; and what the performance of each authority against these indicators was. [257411]
Mr. Wills:
As my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Justice explained in answer to similar questions from the hon. Member on 18 June 2008, Official Report, column 1001W), responsibility for issuing guidance to electoral registration officers (EROs) on electoral registration lies with the Electoral Commission. Guidance issued offers suggestions on increasing registration rates amongst under-represented groups, such as electors with learning difficulties or low levels of literacy. In addition, the guidance advises on the activities that EROs must undertake
to meet section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006, which placed a new duty on them to take all necessary steps to maintain the electoral register, including sending the annual canvass form more than once and making house visits.
The number of people registered to vote in Great Britain as reported by the Office for National Statistics is increasing. Following the 2007 annual canvass the number of parliamentary electors grew by 307,669 to 45,082,854; and the number of local government electors grew by 463,340 to 45,920,503. The Office for National Statistics is expected to publish figures for the 2008 annual canvass by the end of February 2009.
The Government have no current plans to produce a league table of electoral registration officers' performance. However, the performance standards framework established by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 will allow the collection of data on the performance and activities of electoral administrators, including EROs.
The Electoral Commission published a final set of performance standards for Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain in July 2008, details of which have been laid before the House. One of the standards will provide information on the use of house to house inquiries and canvassers by administrators. The Commission will publish the results of EROs' self-assessments against all of the standards in spring 2009.
The Government are not aware of national indicators being previously set in the last 12 years.
Electoral Register: Advertising
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how much (a) the Government and (b) local authorities have spent on advertising for voter registration in the last 12 months; [257720]
(2) how much funding for electoral registration has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent by each local authority in the last 12 months; [257721]
(3) how much each local authority spent on electoral registration in (a) total and (b) per elector in each of the last 11 years; [257723]
(4) how much each local authority spent per elector on voter registration listed in descending order of amount of expenditure in the most recent year for which figures are available; [257725]
(5) how much was spent on advertising to increase levels of electoral registration in (a) the Government and (b) each local authority in each of the last 10 years. [257328]
Mr. Wills: As my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to similar questions from my hon. Friend on 18 June 2008, Official Report, column 999W, funding for electoral registration activities such as advertising is included in the local authority formula grant issued by central Government. Once these funds are allocated, decisions on how it is utilised are a matter for the local authorities concerned. As a result, it is not known how much was spent in total or per elector for electoral registration in the last 11 years, as this information was not collected, and thus no rankings are available.
However, as part of its work in developing performance standards for electoral services, the Commission launched a financial information survey across Great Britain on 10 September 2007. Electoral registration officers and returning officers were asked to complete the survey and return it by 31 July 2008. The Commission is currently analysing this information in conjunction with CIPFA (the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants) and will publish results in due course. It will be for the Commission to decide whether it wishes to collect and publish financial information in relation 2008-09.
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