§ The Minister for Local and Regional Government (Mr. Nick Raynsford)Today, I am pleased to announce to the House the launch of a consultation on modernising electoral registration. This follows on from my written statement on the 15 January 2004,Official Report, columns 42–43WS, when I announced the launch of the coordinated online register of electors (CORE) project. At that time I gave a commitment to consult with local government and others on the details for taking forward the project, including the proposed funding arrangements.
This project will contribute to the modernisation of the electoral registration process in Great Britain by, first, standardising local electoral registers and, secondly, allowing authorised users to access local registration data centrally. It will support the achievement of our aim to hold a multi-channelled e-enabled general election sometime after 2006
53WSStakeholders will have until 13 August 2004 to send in their responses.
Copies of the consultation document are available in the Libraries of both Houses and will also be made available on the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.