Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 24 February (HL4934), what direct voter registration work the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are undertaking, or planning to undertake, with schools, further education colleges, apprentice and trainee providers and universities in advance of the 2015 General Election registration deadline on 20 April 2015.

Citizenship education is in the revised national curriculum, taught from September 2014. At key stage 4, pupils should be taught the different electoral systems in and beyond the United Kingdom and about the actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond.

The Government is investing £530,000 to encourage students to register to vote to be shared by the NUS, Sixth Form Colleges Association, Active Citizens FE and the National Association of Managers of Student Services. This is the latest in a series of measures in this Parliament to maximise student registration. Additionally, a national competition for student unions to find the best ideas to get students to register to vote will be run by the National Union of Students (NUS).