This is a requirement of the  recently
issued Ministry of Justice (MOJ) data standards directive. The  directive is
designed to improve the quality and integrity of electoral  registers, help in
detecting certain types of fraud and move towards the future  implementation of
the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors  (CORE).

Being included in an Electoral Register is the only way  members of the
public can vote in local, national or European elections in the  UK. A high quality
Electoral Register represents the single most effective way  of ‘getting out
the vote’. The MOJ directive follows a recommendation by the  Electoral
Commission following lengthy consultation with the Ministry of  Justice, Political
Parties, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and software  suppliers.

IA’s new service is aimed at helping EROs in each Local  Authority bring
their electoral data up to the required standard. This involves  the initiation of
a five stage process, which checks data integrity, converts it  to BS 7666
format, matches it to the NLPG, and provides a detailed report  suggesting
options on how Authorities should proceed. This may involve IA  creating new UPRNS
(unique property reference numbers) where they are  missing.  Any further
anomalies are resolved between the EROs and the Local  Authority Local Land and
Property Gazetteer (LLPG) Custodians in order that the  MOJ December 2009
deadline can be met. IA is also working closely with Electoral  Register software
suppliers to ensure their systems can fully support the new  data standard.

This activity is crucial to the future  implementation of the Co-ordinated
Online Record of Electors (CORE). The key  objectives of CORE are to facilitate
effective checking of political party  donations and to assist in the
detection of certain types of electoral  fraud.

“We have developed this analysis process and workflow to  facilitate the
conversion of Electoral Registers to BS 7666, and their  subsequent matching to
the NLPG,” said Michael Nicholson, Managing Director of  Intelligent Addressing.
“The CORE project for a national online database of  electors is directly
analogous to the NLPG, a national online database of  addresses that we as
custodians of the NLPG understand extremely well,”  continued Nicholson.   
-end-

Notes to  Editors:
The NLPG was initiated in 1999 to become the master address dataset  for
England and Wales and the central hub for the 376 address creating Local 
Authorities and their Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPGs). Based on  twelve
digit unique property reference numbers (UPRNs) the underlying principle  of
these gazetteers is to provide a single definitive address database for all 
departments and systems across a local authority in order to cut costs, improve 
efficiency and service delivery. 

The benefits also go beyond  service delivery. Fraud prevention, tax
collection and disaster planning all  benefit from the fact that each property is
given a ‘Unique Property Reference  Number’ which transcends (property) numbers,
names, descriptions (such as ‘The  Nursing Home’) and the Postcode. UPRNs are
assigned for the full life of the  plot and/or building from planning
approval to  demolition.

www.nlpg.org.uk

The Improvement and  Development Agency (IDeA) works in partnership with all
councils, to enhance the  performance of the best, accelerate the speed of
improvement of the rest, and  develop the sector as a whole.

Working in partnership with the  local government community developing
national infrastructure projects that  enable councils to deliver local services
more effectively, LGIH acts as an  intermediary between the public and the
private sector enabling it to negotiate  with private companies on behalf of local
authorities in order to provide key  parts of a technical infrastructure for
improved service  delivery.