Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 16 January (HL3945), whether Electoral Registration Officers' (EROs) engagement plans to maximise registration levels in their local areas, including among young people, are publicly accessible; if so, where they may be accessed; when EROs will receive their allocations of £6.8 million of funding to support their work in driving up registration rates among under-registered groups; whether any such funding is allocated for work in increasing registration rates among young people; and what (1) measures, and (2) standards, the Electoral Commission employs to monitor the performance of EROs in implementing engagement plans to register attainers, students and other young people.

All allocations to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in England and Wales have now been paid. In Scotland, where the process differs, EROs have been invited to submit an invoice totaling the sum of their allocation. EROs are best placed to determine the type of activity that will be most effective in maximising registration levels in their local area. This could include activity focused on increasing registration rates among young people.

The Commission continues to monitor ERO progress in this area and to work with ERO’s to help ensure their registers are as accurate and complete as possible by the time of the May 2015 elections

To support EROs in planning for and delivering the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, the Electoral Commission established a new framework of performance standards. This includes the requirement for EROs to have appropriate public engagement strategies in place which are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain suitable to meet local challenges.