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Should the Government abolish the edited version of the Electoral Register or should it be retained but with changes made to who can purchase it?

These are two of the six proposals put forward by the government’s public consultation on the future of the Edited Register.

‘Electoral Registers - proposed changes to the Edited Register’ seeks views on the recommendation in Dr Mark Walport and Richard Thomas's independent review of the use of personal information in the public and private sector that the Edited Register should be abolished.

Justice Minister, Michael Wills, said:

‘There are strong opinions on the future of the Edited Register and before considering any changes we need to further understand the impact that this may have on different groups of people’.

‘The Government has noted Dr. Mark Walport and Richard Thomas's recommendation that the Edited Register should be abolished. But we also recognise that the edited version of the electoral register acts as a comprehensive list of names and addresses of use to businesses, organisations and individuals. This consultation will help us consider the potential impact of the changes proposed.’

Details of the consultation are available from the Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/docs/electoral-reg-changes-ed-reg-consultation.pdf

MRS responded to the consultation putting forward a strong argument for allowing researchers to use the full Electoral Register for research purposes.
Read the MRS Response

UK Office of Fair Trading - Compliance Partnerships Consultation

The OFT has published a consultation on the development of compliance partnerships with those bodies that provide ‘established means’ for the control of unfair commercial practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008.

The proposed policy seeks to encourage bodies such as trade associations and OFT Approved code sponsors to act as a first port of call for resolving compliance issues and looks at alternative ways of bringing about compliance outside of the traditional statutory framework for enforcing the law. Rather than dealing with matters always through the criminal or civil courts, OFT will look to other bodies, which it refers to as its compliance partners, having tried and tested systems for dealing with non-compliance.
Compliance partners may be found in, but not necessarily confined to, statutory enforcers, industry funded self-regulatory and co-regulatory bodies, code scheme operators (OFT approved and non-OFT approved), trade and business associations.

Download the Compliance partnerships consultation

MRS responded to this issue during the consultation phase. Read the MRS Response (PDF 62KB, PDF Help)

Research Councils UK Consultation – Code of Conduct

Research Councils UK have published for consultation a Code of Conduct and Policy on the Governance of Good Research Conduct. The consultation concerns not only core issues of plagiarism and falsification of data, but also such areas of proper representation of credentials and findings, conflicts of interest, access to data for replication, abuse of peer review, and informed consent and protection of research subjects. It also covers concern about whether weaknesses and cases of poor conduct which have been identified are fully pursued and publicly available, so they are unlikely to be repeated.

Details of the consultation are available from the Research Councils UK website: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/review/grc/default.htm

Read the MRS response (PDF 62KB, PDF Help)

UK Statistics Authority Consultation – Code of Practice

The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 created the UK Statistics Authority and gave the Authority the power to determine a Code of Practice alongside specific powers to assess the compliance of official statistics against that Code. Section 10 of the Act also requires the Authority to formally consult ministers in the devolved administrations when preparing or revising the Code of Practice.

Details of the consultation are available from the Statistics Authority website: http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/consultations/open-consultations/code-of-practice-consultation-document.pdf

Read the MRS response (PDF 20KB, PDF Help)

Ministry of Justice Consultation - Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Government is considering extending the application of the act to bodies that exercise a “function of a public nature” or operate under contract to an existing public authority to supply a service that is a function of that authority.

Details of the consultation are available from the Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/cp2707.htm

Read the MRS response (PDF 20KB, PDF Help)

Ofcom Consultation - Statement of Policy

Ofcom has proposed amendments to the Statement of Policy on the persistent misuse of an electronic communications network or service. These amendments would include changes to the call centre procedures for organisations using predictive diallers.

Details of the consultation on the Ofcom website: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/persistent_misuse

Read the MRS response (PDF 20KB, PDF Help)

Data Sharing Review – Consultation

The Prime Minister has asked Dr Mark Walport and Richard Thomas to conduct a review of the framework for the use of information in the private and public sector. The review will:

consider whether there should be any changes to the way the Data Protection Act 1998 operates in the UK and the options for implementing any such changes
provide recommendations on the powers and sanctions available to the regulator and courts in the legislation governing data sharing and data protection
provide recommendations on how data-sharing policy should be developed in a way that ensures proper transparency, scrutiny and accountability

As part of this review, Richard Thomas and Dr Mark Walport have launched a consultation into how personal information is used and shared in the public and private sectors.

Details of the consultation on the MoJ website:
www.justice.gov.uk/publications/data-sharing-review-consultation.htm

Read the MRS response (PDF 20KB, PDF Help)

Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) Consultation - Implementing the Services Directive in the UK

The Services Directive aims to develop the single market in the services sector by breaking down barriers to cross-border trade within the EU. This will make it easier for businesses to set up in another Member State or to provide services across borders or on a temporary basis. The Directive must be implemented by 28 December 2009.

Details of the consultation on the BERR website:
www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page42211.html

Read the MRS response (PDF 46KB, PDF Help)

News Archive

MRS responses to previous consultations

Activities

The Census and Geodemographics Group (CGG), the MRS advisory group, regularly makes representations to the Office for National Statistics and other government bodies. Please visit their website: www.geodemographics.org.uk for details of the latest consultations on geodemographics and geo-spatial analysis.

MRS:

has representations on the Council of the Advertising Association (www.adassoc.org.uk)
and the UK International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Marketing and Advertising (www.iccwbo.org/home/national_committees/europe/united_kingdom.asp).

MRS is:

a stakeholder in MRQSA
and the Debating Group (www.debatinggroup.org.uk) the parliamentary forum for marketing debate.

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