Explanatory note

These Regulations require registration officers in Great Britain to disclose the electoral registers and any related information maintained by them and authorise the comparison of that information against data held by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in order to assist registration officers in Great Britain for the purposes set out in paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to the Representation of the People Act 1983, as amended by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013. Those purposes are—

to verify information relating to a person who is registered in a register maintained by the officer,

to ascertain the names and addresses of people who are not registered but who are entitled to be registered, or

to identify those people who are registered but who are not entitled to be registered.

Regulation 2 requires each registration officer in Great Britain to disclose to the Lord President a copy of the electoral registers maintained by that officer and any other related information on a date or dates to be notified to the registration officer by the Lord President in writing but which shall be, for England, by 17th February 2014 and, for Scotland and Wales, by 10th March 2014. Regulation 2(3) enables the Lord President to specify in writing to the registration officer the format and means by which the information must be disclosed. The Lord President may then disclose the information to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for comparison against the data it holds set out in regulation 2(5). The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions may disclose the results of the comparison to the Lord President, who may disclose them to the registration officer for the purposes set out above.

Regulation 3 makes provision for the processing of the information disclosed under these Regulations. Regulation 3(1) provides that information may only be disclosed for one of the purposes set out above or for the purpose of any civil or criminal proceedings. Regulation 3(2) makes it an offence to disclose information in breach of regulation 3(1).

Regulation 4 provides, in accordance with paragraph 1A(3)(d) of Schedule 2, that where the Lord President has imposed requirements on the processing of information disclosed under these regulations, that information must be processed in accordance with those requirements. If the Lord President imposes any such requirements in relation to information to be disclosed under these regulations, he must do so before the registration officer is required to disclose that information under regulation 2(1).

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.