Analysis of 2009 Electoral Roll Opt Out Highlights Worst Council Areas

Leading the market in the collection, capture and consolidation of the Electoral Roll, the Callcredit Information Group, which includes EuroDirect, Callcredit and Broadsystem has today published the '2009 Regional Electoral Roll Opt Out Report' for the 2009 canvass which reveals quite dramatic disparities between councils.

Having identified back in December an overall opt out rate of 43.8%, Callcredit Information Group have now published further analysis which breaks down the opt out rates by Local Authority. The report illustrates the following key findings:

32.3% of all councils have more than half or their residents opting out. This shows a major increase on the figure of 22.9% reported in 2008.
13.0% of all councils have opt out rates in excess of 60%. Again this is a dramatic increase from the figure of 7.8% in 2008. The following tables indicate the best and worst local authorities in terms of opt out rates:

30 Highest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:

Rank	Local Authority Area	% Opt Out	% Opt Out Change
1	Ealing	82.29	5.10
2	Epping Forest	78.00	1.65
3	South Glocestershire	76.51	9.50
4	Bridgend	75.09	0.57
5	Fenland	72.91	-1.80
6	Eden	71.26	-1.35
7	Cotswold	71.21	8.98
8	Bromley	70.13	7.35
9	Richmondshire	69.92	-0.20
10	Maidstone	69.16	1.45
11	Teignbridge	69.05	4.33
12	Horsham	68.90	3.26
13	South Tyneside	68.68	2.54
14	Weymouth & Portland	68.52	9.07
15	Easington	68.19	2.29
16	West Lancashire	67.94	2.21
17	Richmond upon Thames	67.53	-7.77
18	Torbay	66.99	3.99
19	South Northamptonshire	66.94	8.49
20	Bath & NE Somerset	66.74	4.43
21	Wokingham	66.39	2.51
22	Sutton	66.32	1.23
23	Hammersmith	65.12	1.73
24	New Forest	64.81	2.88
25	Wandsworth	64.46	-3.61
26	Test Valley	64.09	14.10
27	Bassetlaw	64.01	2.52
28	Bracknell Forest	63.85	3.85
29	Bridgenorth	63.84	1.79
30	West Lindsey	63.81	2.39

30 Lowest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:

Rank	Local Authority Area	% Opt Out	% Opt Out Change
1	North Tayside & Angus	9.94	4.99
2	Dundee	12.46	1.86
3	Perth & Kinross	12.47	5.57
4	Dumfries & Galloway	13.23	2.08
5	Alnwick	16.37	3.73
6	Fife	16.63	1.74
7	Gedling	16.87	2.39
8	Shetland Islands	17.37	1.30
9	Highlands & W Isles	17.81	2.73
10	Lanarkshire	18.17	10.70
11	Blaenau Gwent	18.20	2.82
12	Orkney	18.33	1.89
13	Grampian	18.42	0.90
14	Isle of Man	19.12	5.97
15	Bradford	20.22	8.59
16	Ceredigion	20.55	-0.21
17	Oswestry	20.64	2.39
18	Hartlepool	20.78	5.15
19	Dunbartonshire	21.51	8.19
20	Argyll & Bute	22.23	8.12
21	Kensington	22.23	0.61
22	Lothian	22.89	6.47
23	Scottish Boarders	22.89	1.47
24	Reigate & Banstead	23.90	4.00
25	Glasgow	24.29	5.95
26	Gwynedd	24.54	2.48
27	Isle of Anglesey	24.98	2.04
28	Merthyr Tydfil	25.03	3.52
29	Kingston Upon Hull	25.18	4.50
30	Haringey	25.21	3.32

Mike Green, Chief Executive of Callcredit Information Group comments:
"In an economic environment such as it is, these regional differentiations will provide yet another profound blow to businesses that are endeavouring to drive business by targeting localised marketing campaigns around stores, branches and dealerships."

"Where opt out rates are at their highest it is inevitable that marketers will have to look to sources of data other than the Edited Electoral Roll to top up their acquisition campaigns."