Electoral Register (Hansard, 3 July 1997)

§ Mr. Barnes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will commission a comparative study of the forms of electoral registration used(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) overseas. [6023]

§ Mr. George Howarth
[holding answer 1 July 1997]: We have no immediate plans to do so but we will keep the matter under consideration.

§ Mr. Barnes
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the factors underlying non-registration on the electoral roll; and if he will make a statement. [6018]

§ Mr. Howarth
[holding answer 1 July 1997]: Research commissioned by the Home Office after the 1991 Census indicated that a number of groups were less likely to register than others. These included people aged under 30, those living in private rented accommodation and inner city areas, people who changed addresses frequently, and members of ethnic minority communities. We are considering how best to publicise this autumn's canvass for electoral registration to encourage members of such groups to register.

§ Mr. Barnes
To ask the secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of numbers and percentage of people missing from electoral registers who are entitled to be registered(a) in total and (b) in the categories (i) those living in private rented accommodation, (ii) residents of inner London, (iii) 21 to 24-year-olds, (iv) attainers, (v) ethnic minorities, (vi) new commonwealth citizens, (vii) those who moved in the year before a general election, (viii) homeless people and (ix) disabled people. [6011]

§ Mr. Howarth
[holding answer 1 July 1997]: On (a), I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) on 2 June, Official Report, columns 90–92. On (b), the most recent material on which to base estimates for most of the categories listed is the study carried out after the last census by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys on behalf of the Home Office and the Scottish Home and Health Department, entitled "Electoral registration in 1991". No information is available on homeless or disabled people.