§ Lord Lipseyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they approve of local authorities distributing voluntary questionnaires to householders with the statutory form for the electoral register; whether they have examined the distribution by the London Borough of Lambeth of a survey on energy efficiency attached to the electoral registration form; and whether they have estimated the effect of such practices on the level of electoral registration. [HL4357]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonIt is left to individual Electoral Registration Officers to decide on the best and most efficient way of conducting their annual canvass of electors. It is an offence under paragraph 29 of the Representation of the People Regulations 1986 to fail to complete, or to complete falsely, an electoral registration form. The overall rate of registration 111WA remains high, at over 95 per cent nationally. I understand that the Electoral Registration Officer in Lambeth considers that the inclusion of an energy efficiency survey form in each of the last three years has not affected the rate of voter registration.