Question

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 193W, on electoral register, for what reasons the Electoral Commission does not collect data on the number of attainers registered as part of its monitoring of electoral registration officers.

The Electoral Commission informs me that it reviews the data on registered attainers collected by the Office for National Statistics and, separately, carries out assessments of the accuracy and completeness of the registers periodically.

The Commission also informs me that its current performance standards framework is designed to support Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in preparing for and delivering the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. The standards seek to ensure that EROs have appropriate plans in place to address the particular challenges in their registration area in order to maximise registration, and that they monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their activities.

The Commission will continue to keep its performance standards framework under review and will consider whether specific information on the number of attainers registered should be included as part of the data it requests from EROs in the future.