Ms Petra Woods:

I acknowledge there are issues with the electoral register being fit for purpose. We see and hear about these issues every time there is an electoral event. We are aware a significant body of work has to be done.

The proposal to start from a clean slate - essentially remove everyone from the register and require re-enrolment - is a strategy tried in other countries. It works over time but there is always a risk that one will lose people and will not get them back. It can affect young people and, in particular, older people who may not re-register because they have always been registered. It is harder to reach some of those people. There is a recognition that we need to work at it.

We are not moving overnight to anything new. One key point which came through from various consultations is that people are not in favour of a big-bang approach relating to the electoral register. We need to have a functioning system available at all times in the event that an electoral event is called. While none are scheduled, it is important that the system stands ready.

The database issue feeds into the idea of working on the register over time. We are moving towards one single database. Head 90, a new section 13B, sets out that there will be a single national database. Within that, local authorities will manage the registers for their areas. There will not be a series of databases. There will be one database and local authorities will manage their registers within that.

We currently have 31 registers. We have to work towards the process of integrating those into one single database. There is a process and much data cleaning required to make each individual local authority ready. The database itself is not set up and ready to be scaled nationally. That is work that will be undertaken and is under consideration already. The key point is that we are aware that a significant amount of data cleaning is needed as we move from a series of databases held individually by local authorities to a national database.

We know there are people on the register in two counties. For example, a person may have gone to university and forgotten. The system relies on people providing information from their previous addresses or previous registrations to enable local authorities to get in touch with other local authorities to remove them from one register and add them to another. Streamlining the process by using this centralised database will help clean up such duplication.