Electoral Administration Bill

I want to speak about some concerns that the organisation Scope has brought to my attention, and I look forward to the response from my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, who will answer the debate. Scope supports the idea of personal identifiers very strongly, but considers that the registration process, if carried out appropriately and correctly, could help disabled people exercise their right to vote. I shall come back to what Scope would like to happen with the piloting, but it recommends that registration forms should have enough space so that people can make clear their preferred format for any communication that they receive. In addition, the form should allow disabled people to set out their access needs if they are required to attend a polling station. Scope says that that would help registration officers in their forward planning for elections, as they would have a rough idea of how many people with disabilities any given polling station would have to cater for. However, Scope is worried that the registration forms could become too crowded and busy if all that information were to be included. It reports seeing some mock-ups of forms that might be used, but says that there is a concern that there may be insufficient space for identifiers. Moreover, the organisation says that the forms should use a reasonable print size—at least 12 point—so that people with a visual impairment can read them. Scope thinks that piloting is a good idea, but is keen that consideration be given to piloting both household and individual registration at the same time, to ascertain which option is more effective. That approach may deal with some of the problems raised on Second Reading and in today’s debate, and settle the argument about which method would ensure that the largest number of people were registered. The Bill does not specify that the pilot schemes must be conducted in respect of household registration only, so I hope that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State can assure me that there is a possibility that individual registration could be piloted as well. Scope is also keen to ensure that personal identifiers are easily understood. The Opposition propose that national insurance numbers be used for that purpose, but Scope does not agree with that, as not everyone has a national insurance number, and the number itself is not the easiest thing to remember. The hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) said that he knew his number, but I am afraid that I do not know mine. I think that a lot of people would struggle as well. Even so, most disabled organisations welcome the use of personal identifiers. Part of the reason is that the only identifier presently in use is a person’s signature, and many disabled people find it very difficult or impossible to sign their names. I hope that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State will assure the House that pilot schemes will be held for collecting individual identifiers using both the household registration form and the individual registration form. In that way, we will be able to see which approach is correct.