Representation of the People Bill

Debate between Lord Rennard and Lord Wilson of Sedgefield

Committee stage
Monday 2nd November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

That is not a figure that I have to hand, to be fair. We will look into that and get back to the noble Lord.

I am pleased to reassure noble Lords that our plan is for secondary legislation on the direct registration pilots to be introduced quickly after the Bill comes into force. Under the Bill, there is a statutory requirement for the Electoral Commission to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilots after they have finished.

With that, I thank noble Lords for the spirit and intention of their amendments; I hope that this information reassures them.

[Lord Rennard (LD)]

I am trying to get in my mind why it is that the things around automatic voter registration that the Minister and his colleagues supported in opposition are now considered not to be so practical. I note his point that the DWP data is not sufficient to include somebody on the electoral register. But, under the present arrangements, either online or by paper, you give your name, address and national insurance number—and hey presto, you are registered. I am not sure there is such a barrier now—but if there is, surely the only bit of data required is to confirm that you are a UK citizen. Since the Government must know who is a UK citizen, if you have their name, address and national insurance number and you know they are a UK citizen, you should simply put people on the electoral register.

To help the Minister answer the questions he has been asked about costs, I say that this will be a great cost-saving exercise compared with many forms being printed and sent out in the expensive post, and human beings having to go round door to door doing this. We could cut costs considerably if we sped this up.