Electoral Administration Bill

I am aware that the Electoral Commission is concerned about the number of amendments tabled regarding the electoral registration officers. I am not sure whether the amendments are necessary. However, it is necessary that we understand the difficulties that the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, has raised about the register, including the problem of having a register that is overweighted by people who should not be on it. If you live in an area such as the one that I live in, where there are 137 nationalities and rafts of people who see a form and think that they ought to fill it in, or see a form and think that they should not fill it in, you can get a very confusing register. The Minister may not be able to answer my question instantly, but we have a few more relevant amendments as we go on. I am not sure how much latitude is allowed to individual electoral registration officers before they come to the conclusion that someone ought to come off the register. Like the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, I have canvassed endless houses of multiple occupation where 50 people were in residence and only 10 could possibly have fitted in. Clearly, 40 of those names should have come off. When I asked the electoral registration officers about it, they said, ““We leave it for a couple of years just to make sure””. Actually, the names should never have been on to start with. So, to keep this short, how much latitude should there be? Do we need to leave a more detailed directive on what should or should not be done? If electorates are distorted, they are distorted for all sorts of reasons, including boundary commissions. When the Boundary Commission reviews parliamentary seats, it takes into account the electorate. If the electorate are wrong, the boundaries are wrong, peradventure. That is a very important issue.