To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to encourage local authorities to enforce the requirement for people to complete and return an annual registration canvass form. (130061)

Electoral registration officers (EROs) are aware of their powers to enforce the requirement that electors complete and return annual registration canvass forms and use them at their discretion if they consider this would be effective.

The Electoral Administration Act 2006 (EAA 2006) sets out the necessary steps that local authorities must follow to ensure that eligible individuals are registered to vote. These include:

Sending the canvass form more than once to any address.

Conducting house to house inquiries and making contact by such other means as appropriate.

The Act also contains other measures to improve registration rates, such as:

Enabling registration up to 11 days prior to polling day.

Introducing performance standards for EROs.

These are all significant changes and their impact will be kept under review.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average fine was for failing to complete and return an annual registration canvass form in the latest period for which figures are available. (130066)

This information is not collected.