Electoral Administration Bill

There are some important issues here which I do not think the Minister has yet tackled completely. I take the points made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham. As she said earlier, she has long experience of areas with lots of HMOs. When I am in London, I lodge in her fiefdom, if that is the word—her neck of the woods—and play a little game. As I walk the half mile from the underground station to my lodgings each morning and evening, I count the number of different languages I hear. Often I need to use both hands and sometimes the number goes into double figures. Such areas are different from the fairly traditional households that many of us are used to in our own areas. The traditional form sent out works well in fairly traditional households. I say ““fairly traditional”” because no one is quite as traditional as they used to be. Basically, these are unitary families living in a house. The system works well for them. But it does not work well in houses in multiple occupation. I have a friend called Gareth Epps, who recently has undertaken a lot of work in parts of central Reading. He reckons that half the people living in HMOs who should be registered are not, and that half of those registrations are out of date. Many people are on the roll who should not be there. The system simply is not working; it is hopeless. I am not suggesting that the traditional general circular should not be sent out in these places; I am suggesting that the electoral registration officer should be able to look at individual households and say, ““If the form does not come back and the canvass doesn’t work because no one answers the door, perhaps we should send copies to the people we believe live there and ask them if they will provide information on those who have not responded””. My other point relates to the next amendment, so I will not raise it now.