Registration officers and leading academics to give evidence to Lords Electoral Registration Act Committee

The Committee hopes to learn more about how the Government's voter ID proposals might work in practice, and on how electoral registration is currently working.

Giving evidence to the Committee at 3.30pm will be:

• Sally Crawford, Electoral Services Manager, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
• Mark Emson, Electoral Manager, Peterborough City Council
• Lindsay Tomlinson, Electoral Services Manager, Allerdale Borough Council.

At 4.30pm the Committee will hear from:

• Dr Alistair Clark, Reader in Politics, Newcastle University
• Prof Toby James, University of East Anglia.

Questions the Committee is likely to ask both panels of witnesses include:

• How big a problem is electoral fraud? What shape does it most often come in?
• What impact will the Government's proposal to introduce voter ID at polling stations have on tackling fraud and on voter turnout? Is it a step in the right direction?
• Has the introduction of individual registration been positive?
• How have local authorities managed online registration and surges of public interest around general elections and referendums?
• What impact has the introduction of individual electoral registration had on efforts to reach under-registered groups?
• Does the Government properly fund councils for the cost of running elections?
• What are the key problems in relation to the annual canvass?

The Committee was initially appointed in the spring to examine the Act and find out how well it is working in practice. It will then make recommendations on how the Act can be improved.

These evidence sessions, which are open to the public, will start at 3.30pm on Tuesday 29 October in Committee Room 2A of the House of Lords. Alternatively, you can watch them on parliamentlive.tv