Will the Counsel General provide the reasoning behind the recurring nature of the £1.5 million cost of sending letters to electors, outlined in the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill's explanatory memorandum?
Each elector that is registered without application will need to be notified, which is most effectively done in writing. Each local authority will be required to send a notice of registration to each person that has been successfully added to the local government electoral register without application, notifying them they have been registered or that they remain on the register.
We believe this will cost around an additional £1.5million per annum. This is based on the costs of the annual canvass and invitations to register that are issued to electors under the current system of Individual Electoral Registration.