The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Miss Chloe Smith)
I am pleased to announce that the Government are making available up to £4.2 million this year to maximise the rate of voter registration ahead of the transition to individual electoral registration in 2014. Organisations, neighbourhoods and communities have been asked to come up with ideas to get people involved in the democratic process locally and nationally, with the best ideas being awarded funding from the new innovation fund. I welcome Parliament’s scrutiny and encouragement of such ideas, and urge parliamentarians to consider what could be done in their areas and constituencies.
Funding is also being made available to local authorities who have solid and creative ideas to get as many people on to the electoral register as possible in their area.
The introduction of individual electoral registration (IER) in 2014 will modernise our electoral registration system, removing the notion of the head of the household being responsible for the registration of others. IER will also introduce online registration making it more convenient for people to register to vote while also delivering a register that is more secure and engenders greater trust in politics.
A major benefit of IER is that electors will be individually contacted and encouraged to register. This will enable local authorities to aim to get the maximum number of people on the register, including hard to reach and under-registered groups.
Currently some people, such as those in shared housing and frequent home movers are some of the most under-represented on the register.
The funding will be used to support a range of initiatives to be carried out by local authorities and other organisations, such as the voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector, which will work together with the aim of increasing levels of voter registration among under-registered groups. These include:
The Targeted Canvassing Fund—A fund which will enable electoral registration officers (EROs) to carry out intensified canvassing activity in areas with a high proportion of under-registration.
The ERO Registration Fund—A fund which will support proposals for activities from electoral registration officers who will use their knowledge of the needs of their local populations to customise their measures.
Innovation Fund—We will be looking to fund innovative bottom-up approaches to increase representation of under-registered groups (URGs) on the electoral register. We are particularly interested in new innovative approaches to engage communities and increase voter registration.
Schools Outreach—We will be looking for organisations to deliver a set lesson framework, Rock Enrol, which has been developed and piloted with Bite the Ballot, to a number of schools across England and Wales. This is also available to organisations in Scotland, although we will be looking to ensure that proposals take account of planned activity in schools ahead of the independence referendum.