Electoral Administration Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, but the amendments deal with the issue. For the first time, the Ministry of Defence will keep a record of which personnel have registered and which have not done so, so we can see where the gaps are. Of course, he is right that registration is more difficult for service personnel serving overseas, but we have put in place measures that will help to achieve his aim. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary wrote to me saying that he wanted to work with my Department and the Electoral Commission"““to consider what further improvements we can make to the quality of information available to Service personnel.””" A number of service personnel elect to register as ordinary voters, and that option will still be available to them.