2007 UK Electoral Roll Opt Out Figures On The Rise Yet Again

Leading technology and data Group, which includes EuroDirect and Callcredit has revealed the latest opt-out figures from the 2007 Electoral Roll, which indicate yet another rise in opt-out levels across the UK.

Analysis of opt out rates by councils across the UK has highlighted an average opt out rate of 36.35%, which shows another significant increase on the previous year.

Year	Overall Average Opt Out Rate	Average Year On Year Increase
2007	36.25%	4.00%
2006	32.25%	4.73%
2005	27.52%	1.52%
2004	26.00%	5.10%
2003	20.90%	20.90%

A combination of consumers flexing their freedom to choose and the continuation of council pre-ticking of opt-outs has resulted in an additional 1.8 million consumers opting out of this years electoral roll canvass. This means that over the last 5 years 16.3 million UK residents have now removed themselves from the prospect universe available to marketers. Analysis of the Electoral Rolls processed to date indicate the best and worst local authorities as highlighted below:

20 Highest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas So Far:

1	Kennet	79.81%
2	Bridgend	74.98%
3	Eden	73.47%
4	Ealing	73.45%
5	Richmondshire	70.14%
6	Epping Forest	69.91%
7	Wandsworth	64.73%
8	South Tyneside	62.70%
9	Wokingham	62.47%
10	West Lancashire	62.30%
11	Horsham	62.07%
12	Bromley	61.58%
13	Crawley	60.86%
14	Bath & N E Somerset	60.08%
15	Bassetlaw	60.07%
16	New Forest	59.42%
17	West Lindsey	58.70%
18	Hillingdon	58.14%
19	Macclesfield	58.05%
20	Teignbridge	57.85%

20 Lowest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas So Far:

1	North Tayside & Angus	5.89%
2	Perth and Kinross	7.26%
3	Dumfries & Galloway	11.05%
4	Dundee	11.43%
5	Isles of Scilly	12.00%
6	Gedling	13.22%
7	South Shropshire	14.37%
8	Bradford	14.56%
9	Lanarkshire	15.18%
10	Highlands & W Isles	15.61%
11	Grampian	16.27%
12	Lothian	16.77%
13	Fife	16.82%
14	Orkney	17.01%
15	Dunbartonshire	17.03%
16	Glasgow	17.42%
17	Worcester	17.88%
18	Vale of Glamorgan	17.91%
19	Gwynedd	18.18%
20	Wellingborough	19.18%

Mike Green, Chief Executive Officer of Skipton Information Group comments:

"Although this is a relatively slow process, marketers have to realise that relying on the Electoral Roll to deliver the traditional DM market is not a sustainable option. 16 million people is a very large chunk of consumers to have lost in just 5 years."

"This is a wake up call to the DM Industry. Although household opt-out trends are nowhere near as high as we see in the telecanvassing marketplace, there is justified cause for concern. The industry needs to raise its awareness of the importance of supplementing the Electoral Roll with other data sources to sustain access to the consumer universe, especially when implementing micro-targeting campaigns."