Electoral Register (Hansard, 26 March 2001)

§ Mr. McCabe
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if electoral registration officers have been advised to suffix existing elector numbers to accommodate additions to the register. [154799]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
Electoral registration officers were advised by a Home Office Representation of the People Act 2000 (RPA) circular (RPA circular No. 437) on 20 February that they should ensure that all individuals498W are inserted at the correct location in the register consistent with their address, and that no numbers should be re-used. Instead, existing elector numbers should be given a suffix to accommodate additions to the register. This will allow for identification of additions and cause little disruption to the already published numbering.

§ Mr. McCabe
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the provisions for existing rights of inspection and copying of the ballot box register (marked register) used on polling day are to continue. [154800]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
There has been no change to the legal provisions for parliamentary and local elections governing the inspection and copying of the marked register used on polling day in those elections.

§ Mr. McCabe
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if elected public representatives and registered political parties will be entitled to receive details of additions and deletions to the register as and when they are published by electoral registration officers; and if representatives and registered political parties will be entitled to a free copy of the register in data format up to four times a year. [154798]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
Paragraph 47 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 provides for elected representatives, political parties, candidates and their agents to be supplied with one copy of the register that relates to the area they represent, or seek to represent. Unless the recipient requests otherwise, this copy will be in data format from which they may produce further copies. There is currently no provision for lists of amendments to the published electoral registers to be sold or supplied free of charge, though amendment regulations dealing with the sale and supply of the register which we hope to publish shortly will provide for it.