To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, columns 391-2W, on electoral register, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the effectiveness of door-to-door canvassing in improving registration rates in Northern Ireland.

The Electoral Commission informs me that the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland has advised the Commission that he believed the door-to-door canvassing exercise was effective in registering people to vote and was complimented by data matching.

Altogether, the Chief Electoral Officer reported that 1,241,079 entries were included on the new register published on 2 December 2013. This represents approximately 88.3% of the eligible electorate.

The Electoral Commission supported the door-to-door canvass by conducting a public awareness campaign during the canvass period.

The Commission will be producing a report on the canvass in Northern Ireland in March.