Draft Representation of the People (England and Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2016

Gloria De Piero Excerpts

Tuesday 7th June 2016 General Committees

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your Chairpersonship, Mrs Moon. I thank the Minister for outlining these provisions. We meet on the final day of voter registration for the EU referendum, which is a fitting time to consider which elements of the current legislation for individual electoral registration need another look. We will support these regulations. First, it will be beneficial to a more mobile generation of younger voters to allow the attester to their identities to come from outside their particular local authority, as it will be to all age groups. Secondly, contacting people by email is, of course, a welcome adjustment to the modern world, particularly for young people, who may be less likely to work with hard copies of official forms, but it will be important to keep the paper forms for voters who prefer not to use online formats. Can the Minister confirm that paper copies will still be available?

While we are making amendments to the voter registration process, it is worth considering the voter registration website. This has made it easier for people to register to vote, but it still contains a field asking for a national insurance number. Will the Minister look at allowing people who do not have their NI number to hand to register to vote by entering other ID numbers—passport number, student number, driving licence number—and ensure that all councils accept such valid forms of ID? Opposition Members have noticed the Prime Minister’s recent attempts to encourage young people to register for the EU referendum. That has been extremely welcome, and I hope that the Minister’s party will continue this very positive push to enfranchise more young voters. Will the Minister support some of the measures I have discussed with him in the past, such as the Northern Ireland school initiative and registration by universities during their annual enrolment process?

It is welcome that the Local Government Boundary Commissions for England and Wales will now receive free copies of the electoral register, but the huge efforts we have all been making to get more people on the register since December 2015 have meant a dramatic increase in the numbers. Will the Minister confirm that he cannot possibly use the December figures for the upcoming review of constituency boundaries?

The regulations we are scrutinising today are important and welcome, but I would like the Minister to address the following points. Will paper forms still be available? What will he do to ensure that more young people are registered to vote? How can we have more flexible use of personal identity numbers? And can he ensure that constituencies accurately represent the number of people who live there?

[John Penrose]

I will endeavour to respond to each of the points that the shadow Minister has made. First, though, I welcome her support and her party’s support for these measures as they stand. It is particularly important when we are talking about electoral registration that we have a cross-party attempt to persuade and encourage people, no matter how they plan to vote and whichever side of the fence they may be on, whether in the EU referendum or in a party political general election, to register to vote and to use their democratic voice. In fact, so keen am I on cross-party support that I even retweeted one of the hon. Lady’s tweets encouraging voter registration a week or two ago—I am endeavouring to practise what I preach.

The shadow Minister asked some specific questions. She asked whether paper copies of the forms would still be available, and the straightforward answer is yes, they will. We are aiming to ensure that the process is media-neutral, if I can put it that way, depending on how people can best be approached. Some people prefer email—many do—but many still prefer paper, so we need to provide the flexibility for electoral registration officers to use either method, to suit the local demography and unregistered electorate.

The hon. Lady also asked about alternatives to national insurance numbers on the registration website. I can set her mind at rest: we are already doing precisely as she rightly suggests. In general, national insurance numbers are for many the simplest, quickest and most convenient way of proving their identity, but they are far from the only acceptable method. For those who do not have a national insurance number readily to hand and have to look it up—they may not be in a convenient place to do that—other forms of ID are available, should they be required.

[Gloria De Piero]

Clarity on the form is absolutely essential. Some do not realise—I know that it is possible—that in some cases, student numbers are acceptable. Other councils accept other forms of identification. What is important is that there are universally acceptable forms of identification, and that it is clear that they are universally acceptable on that online form.

[John Penrose]

The hon. Member for Ashfield is absolutely right. Some of those alternatives are prompted for later on in the website user journey, to use the jargon. If someone cannot provide their national insurance number, other alternatives are listed. For example, documentary evidence can include passports and driving licences. It can involve attestation. That is usually the most time-consuming for all concerned, but if someone runs out of all other alternatives, they can get someone of reputable standing to say that they are who they say. Local data can also be used, because many councils have some information that they can use. She is absolutely right that clarity is helpful, but for most people—not all—national insurance numbers are usually a very good place to start.