New move to ban sale of electoral register

Jul 31 2008 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

MINISTERS are examining proposals that would prevent South Lanarkshire Council and other authorities across Britain from selling abridged versions of the electoral roll.

Marketing companies and charities use electoral roll data to send the avalanche of unsolicited letters and cash requests that arrive at homes every day.

People filling in their polling cards can indicate that they do not want their details to appear on the register that can be sold on.

However, in practice, few people tick the box that might save them from at least some of the junk mail they receive.

In October last year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown commissioned a report into how personal information was being used.

Information Commissioner in England Richard Thomas, and Dr Marc Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, compiled the report and it was published last month.

They concluded that the edited roll sold in electronic form by councils should be scrapped.

If their recommendations are accepted, the electoral roll will only be available in public libraries and council offices.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice in London confirmed that any changes would apply to Scotland and added: We agree that measures need to be taken to increase public trust and confidence in the handling and processing of personal data by the public and private sectors.

The Ministry of Justice is already working on possible amendments to the powers available to the Information Commissioner and the funding arrangements for his office to support the exercise of any new powers.

We will assess the other recommendations in the report in further detail and issue a more detailed statement once we have had time to fully consider the implications and costs of bringing about such changes.

There are currently 488,268 names on the electoral roll in Lanarkshire.

That number comprises 247,359 in South Lanarkshire and 240,909 in North Lanarkshire. The number of electors' names and addresses on Lanarkshire's abridged electoral roll is 448,389, indicating that only 39,879 county residents had instructed that their names and addresses should not be passed on to junk mail firms.

A spokesman for the Lanarkshire Valuation Joint Board, who compile the electoral roll in the county, said they make between £600 and £1000 each year from the sale of the edited register.

She said the Lanarkshire register had been sold to marketing companies, charities and local churches and added: All Electoral Registration Officers in the United Kingdom are obliged by statute to sell copies of the edited register at a rate set by the legislation.

The annual canvass form advises electors of this and invites them to tick a box to indicate if they wish their name to be excluded from this edited register.

Those wishing to buy the edited register are charged £20 plus £1.50 per 1000 entries for electronic copies.

Income generated by sales of the register is used to fund the boards services.