My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Kevan Jones) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I have today placed in the Library of the House a copy of the report of a survey on service voter registration conducted by Defence Analytical Services and Advice in November 2008. 

The MoD has continued to work with the Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Justice to improve awareness amongst our Armed Forces personnel and their families of their options on registering to vote.  This survey was undertaken to provide an estimate of the numbers of service personnel who are currently registered to vote and to draw comparison with the results of similar surveys carried out in each of the previous three years.  These surveys help us to judge how best to encourage service personnel to register in future. 

I welcome the survey, as it provides the facts needed to refine future work.  It indicates that 65 per cent of service personnel are currently registered, compared with 69 per cent in 2007 (a decrease that is assessed as not statistically significant), 63 per cent in 2006 and 60 per cent in 2005.  Of those registered in 2008, the majority (75 per cent) chose to register as ordinary rather than service voters.  The level of voters registered as overseas voters has remained at 1 per cent.

We acknowledge that there is still work to be done. The results of the survey will help to indicate where our efforts should be concentrated for the future.  By continuing to work closely with colleagues in the MoJ and the EC to understand what might be the reasons behind the results, we hope to make further improvements to the quality of information available to our service personnel and their families.  We remain committed to improving arrangements for the service community to exercise their right to vote.