Political Parties and Elections Bill

I have found that I am about to answer a lot of the questions that I am being asked. If the hon. Gentleman will allow me to make some progress, he might find that he has the answer to his question. If not, I will be happy to give way to him. From autumn 2015, all people making new registrations—for instance, if they are moving house and reregistering or entirely new to the register—will have to provide their identifiers to be put on to the register. Anyone already on the register in autumn 2015 who does not provide their identifiers will be carried forward for a further two years to 2017. From that point on, there will be full compulsion and we will have full individual registration. Everyone on the register will have provided identifiers. However, we also intend to provide that that shift will proceed in 2015 only if two statutory tests are met. Those tests will be on the state of preparation for the change and the robustness of the existing registration system, which the Electoral Commission will assess no earlier than January 2014. The commission will have to have a reasonable expectation that the move to compulsory provision of identifiers would not compromise the accuracy or comprehensiveness of the register by the point of full individual registration being introduced in 2017. It must believe that the electoral register is both as comprehensive and accurate as is reasonably practicable, and that the effectiveness of the registration system is improving across Great Britain. That finding will have to be supported by performance standards data and other measures. It will be for the commission to determine whether those tests have been passed. However, we expect that it will not just assess the situation at national level but ensure that patterns of improvement are consistent right across the country, and that registration officers are succeeding in reaching out to those groups that are currently, and have historically been, under-represented on the electoral register.