Personal canvassing in 2015
You are required by law to take all necessary steps – including making house-tohouse enquiries – to comply with your general duty to maintain the electoral
registers. Legislation also prescribes personal visits as one of the follow-up steps to
non-responses to invitations to register and HEFs. You will therefore need to plan
how to deploy canvassers in your area to meet those duties.
This resource is designed to help inform your decisions on how to manage the
personal canvassing element of your plans for the 2015 canvass and should be read
alongside Part 3: 2015 canvass of the Commission’s guidance manual for EROs.
How will you use canvassers?

What will you ask canvassers to do when following up with HEF nonresponders?
- Will you ask them to collect the information on paper forms or will
you be providing them with electronic equipment (e.g. tablet,
smartphone) to complete and submit the response electronically?
- If canvassers are asked to collect paper forms, how will the forms
be kept secure? For example, will you be providing lockable
satchels? Will you ask them to bring back the paper forms into the
office within a set timeframe or will you ask them to post these in
the nearest post box? (See also ‘How will you train canvassers?’
below)

What will you ask canvassers to do when following up with ITR nonresponders?
- Will you ask them to collect personal identifiers on paper forms or
will you be providing them with electronic equipment (e.g. tablet,
smartphone) to complete and submit applications directly via the
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote website?
- If canvassers are asked to collect paper forms, how will the forms
be kept secure? For example, will you be providing lockable
satchels? Will you ask them to bring back the paper forms into the
office within a set timeframe or will you ask them to post these in
the nearest post box? (See also ‘How will you train canvassers?’
below)

In addition to using canvassers for the purposes of following up with HEF and
ITR non-responders, for what other purposes will you use canvassers?
 delivery of confirmations of successful applications / letters
confirming registration and acknowledgement letters
 delivery of some or all HEFs and any reminders
 delivery of ITRs and any reminders
 personal visits to informally encourage an application (ahead of or
additional to the personal visit to follow up with ITR nonresponders)
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
Will you use different canvassers for different parts of the process? For
example:
- Are there types of properties you would prefer more experienced
canvassers or core electoral services staff to visit, such as
households with unconfirmed electors, residential care homes,
student halls or houses in multiple occupation - drawing on your
public engagement strategy on how best to reach potential
electors?
- Will the same canvassers be used to follow up HEFs and ITRs?

Will there be different parts of the process that would benefit from being carried
out simultaneously by the same canvasser?
For example:
- If you are using a canvasser to deliver a HEF, could you use the
same canvasser to encourage doorstep completion of the form?
- If you have identified potential electors, do you want to use
canvassers to informally encourage an application if they are
already deployed in the area anyway?
- Equally, if you are using a canvasser to deliver the first ITR, could
you use the same canvasser to encourage doorstep completion of
the form?

How will you communicate responses and any other relevant information to
canvassers in a timely way to prevent unnecessary visits or alert them to any
additional visits or other parts of the process you would like them to carry out
while they are deployed?
How many canvassers will you need and how do the
purposes for which you will be using canvassers affect
recruitment?
See also our canvassing recruitment and training checklist for considerations on the
recruitment process.

How many canvassers will you need?
- What is the scale of the activity you’ll be asking canvassers to
undertake?
o What will you be using canvassers for? (see above)
o What does your revised public engagement strategy tell you
about the level of personal canvassing you will likely need to
carry out during the canvass? How will this help you
determine canvasser rounds?

How will the purposes for which you will be using canvassers affect canvasser
recruitment?
- Canvassing is a year-round process under IER, but are there
particular times when you envisage requiring a larger number of
canvassers?
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
How many hours will canvassers likely need to work to complete
the necessary personal visits?
How will canvasser duties affect canvasser pay?
How will the purposes for which you are deploying canvassers
impact on the required skill set and canvasser job descriptions?
When will you need to have finalised your job description so you
can complete canvasser recruitment in good time and ensure
canvassers are appropriately trained?
How will canvassers be recruited? For example:
- How will you recruit and appoint canvassers for the canvass and
the year-round personal visits?
- Have you considered liaising with neighbouring authorities for the
purposes of sharing canvassers?
How will you train canvassers?
See our canvassing recruitment and training checklist for specific training
considerations .

If you’re using different canvassers for different purposes, will you need to carry
out separate training sessions?

Will this affect the training materials you need? For example:
- To what extent will you need to adapt the Commission’s canvasser
training presentation?

If you are providing canvassers with a smartphone or tablet, how will you
ensure canvassers are confident in their operation – for example, will you need
to set aside some time at the training session for practical demonstrations?
Also, will this affect any guidance you give canvassers on health and safety,
given they may be carrying high-value equipment?
Given the sensitive nature of the information collected by canvassers, how will
you ensure that canvassers are aware of their responsibilities and keep forms
and any personal data secure?
Safety and risk

Have you carried out risk assessments for individual properties where there
could be a risk to a canvasser’s personal safety?

What is your council’s lone working policy? Have you sought the assistance of
those with experience of administering and using the policy in order to ensure
that all risks to personal safety are considered and that appropriate measures
are put in place to ensure the safety of the canvassers?

Have you included the health and safety of personal canvassers in your risk
register and identified any corresponding mitigating actions?
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