§ Lord Roganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Filkin on 10 May (WA 5), concerning the number of people excluded from the electoral roll since 1997, why this information is not collected; and whether they have plans to collect this information in future. [HL2794]
§ Lord FilkinThe electoral register is compiled afresh each year. Effectively all electors are deleted from the register annually unless they make a further application to be included. The reasons for ineligibility are well established and we are not aware of any particular problems relating to exclusion from the register in Great Britain. We have therefore seen no12WA need to collect this information. The position in Northern Ireland, where individual (rather than household) registration has been introduced, is slightly different and I understand that the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland has written to the noble Lord about this.
§ Lord Roganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will invite the Electoral Commission to investigate the reasons for current and previous exclusions from the electoral roll. [HL2795]
§ Lord FilkinI understand that the Electoral Commission is conducting research into registration issues, aiming principally to establish the reasons for under-registration and which specific groups of people may be more likely than others to fail to register. The noble Lord may wish to write to the Electoral Commission's chairman for further details.