§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to electoral registration officers regarding the removal of electors from the register; what degree of discretion electoral registration officers have in applying Home Office guidelines; whether electoral registration officers seek advice from local authorities; for what purposes electoral registration officers may use the community charge register; and what statutory duties local authorities have with regard to canvassing potential electors for inclusion in the electoral register.
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§ Mrs. RumboldIn a circular issued on 10 August 1990 as part of its guidance to electoral registration officers (EROs) in England and Wales, the Home Office made recommendations about the use of information on the community charge register in compiling the electoral register. This included that a person's name should not be carried forward from one electoral register to the next if that person does not respond to the electoral canvass and his or her name does not appear on the community charges register. It also recommended that where such a name does appear in the community charges register it should not be carried forward for more than one year without further inquiries to establish eligibility.
Electoral registration officers are responsible to the courts in the performance of their statutory duties and are not obliged to follow Home Office guidance. They are appointed, in England and Wales, by district or London borough councils and are free to seek advice, including legal advice, from the local authority by which they were appointed, or its officers, if they so wish.
Under section 29 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, EROs in England and Wales may, for the purpose of exercising their functions, inspect the community charges register of any charging authority. The purpose of the Home Office guidance issued on 10 August was to enable and encourage EoOs to make the fullest and most effective use of this right of access, to assist in the preparation of an accurate electoral register.
Electoral registration officers have a statutory duty to prepare and publish each year registers of electors for the
North Yorkshire South Yorkshire West Yorkshire Humberside (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) 1987–88 10 4 12 3 11 3 10 6 1988–89 10 4 12 3 12 3 10 6 1989–90 10 4 12 3 13 3 10 6 1990–911 10 4 12 4 14 3 10 6 1Estimated.