§ Mr. Parkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the consultations about the report of the working party on the electoral register, to which he referred in his reply on 15th February, have been concluded; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees:The report of the working party on the electoral register, published in February, has been the subject of consultations with the local authority associations, electoral registration officers and others concerned. There has been general support for the working party's suggestions relating to improvements in the quality and completeness of 204W the electoral canvass and in relation to the greater use of computers in the compilation and printing of the register. There is also general support for the Working Party's recommendation relating to the power of the electoral registration officer to correct the published register. The working party's recommendation for changes in the qualifying date and publication date for the register has, however, not been supported. Those consulted consider that implementation of this recommendation would lead to severe practical problems, particularly in Scotland.
Together with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, I have now considered the working party's report, in the light of the response to these consultations. We accept the working party's recommendations on the electoral canvass and the use of computers. Implementation will largely be a matter for individual electoral registration officers and local authorities. We also accept the recommendation to empower the electoral registration officer to correct the published register, and we shall introduce the necessary legislation when parliamentary time permits. In view of the practical difficulties highlighted by the consultations, we do not propose to introduce legislation to change the qualifying date and publication date for the electoral register; but we think that further consideration could be given to this and to the other matters covered by the working party's report, including the question whether there should again be two registers a year, when there has been an opportunity to measure the effects of the other changes proposed.