Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce bureaucracy in voter registration processes during and outside canvass periods.

We are committed to improving and modernising electoral registration and are taking a
number of actions to meet this aim. For example, we are currently conducting 24 pilots
relating to the annual canvass with a view to simplifying this in future. The results of these
pilots will be available in 2018 and we will set out next steps at that time.

The programme is currently managing 23 local authorities undertaking canvass pilots this
year, following on from 3 local authorities who piloted last year. These pilots are the
starting point to gather evidence with the view of implementing changes to the canvass for
the 2019 canvass. The models that are currently being piloted look at how to reduce the
burdens of the canvass and reduce the bureaucracy. A working group with our key
stakeholders has been set up to start developing potential model ideas for a less
bureaucratic registration process.