Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 119260, whether his Department has a minimum acceptable level for the (a) accuracy and (b) completeness of the electoral register.

By law, Electoral Registration Officers are charged with maintaining a complete and accurate electoral register. The Government has not set a minimum acceptable level of completeness or accuracy.

The most recent full assessment of the register completeness and accuracy was published in July 2016 by the Electoral Commission. It showed that completeness was stable (at around 85 per cent) and that the introduction of individual electoral registration in 2014 had led to a statistically significant improvement in register accuracy (at around 90 per cent).

The Government published its democratic engagement plan in December 2017 setting out how we intend to work with Electoral Registration Officers and others to continue to ensure we have the best possible electoral registers.