What estimate she has made of the number of eligible voters who are not registered.

The Electoral Commission, in its research report "Understanding electoral registration", which was published in September 2005, found that in the region of 3.5 million people across England and Wales who were eligible to be registered were missing from the 2000 register.

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I have seen the figures. Is she also aware that a high proportion of those 3.5 million people are from minority and disadvantaged groups? Will she guarantee that the Government will make every effort, with resources, to ensure that all those people become registered and our democracy becomes truly representative?

My hon. Friend makes an important point. For our democracy to survive, it is essential that everyone who should be on the register is on it. He is right to point out that those who are most likely not to be on the register come from the younger age group, the socially excluded and, in particular, the black and ethnic minority community. In his Constituency, there is under-registration of about 5 per cent. Almost certainly, most of those people will be from the black and ethnic minority community. My Department is working extremely hard, along with the Electoral Commission, to make sure that we go out and encourage electoral registration officers to target, through the Electoral Administration Act 2006, those groups who most need to be targeted to ensure that our register is as complete as possible. On that basis, I hope that every Member of the House, after enjoying a happy and peaceful Christmas, will return in the new year ensuring that everyone who is eligible to vote in their constituency is on the register and able to do so.