Analysis of 2010 Electoral Roll Opt Out Highlights Worst Council Areas

Leading the market in the collection, capture and consolidation of the Electoral Roll, marketing services and credit reference agency Callcredit Information Group has today published the '2010 Regional Electoral Roll Opt Out Report' for the 2010 canvass which reveals quite dramatic disparities between councils.

Having identified back in December an overall opt out rate of 46%, 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:

39.9% of all councils have more than half or their residents opting out. This shows a dramatic increase on the figure of 32.3% reported in 2009.
14.7% of all councils have opt out rates in excess of 60%. Again this is a major increase from the figure of 13.0% in 2009.

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	83.51	1.22
2	South Gloucestershire	80.00	3.49
3	South Tyneside	75.14	6.46
4	Bromley	74.53	4.4
5	Bridgend	74.52	-0.57
6	Weymouth & Portland	73.35	4.83
7	Fenland	72.54	-0.37
8	Teignbridge	71.80	2.75
9	South Northamptonshire	71.24	4.3
10	Eden	70.94	-0.32
11	Richmondshire	70.55	0.63
12	Horsham	70.43	1.53
13	Test Valley	70.26	6.17
14	Wokingham	70.24	3.85
15	Maidstone	70.23	1.07
16	Cotswold	69.75	-1.46
17	Blackpool	69.24	6.68
18	West Lancashire	69.23	1.29
19	Torbay	69.17	2.18
20	Kingston upon Thames	69.00	5.42
21	Stroud	68.82	5.77
22	Basingstoke & Dean	67.75	4.82
23	Bath & N E Somerset	67.71	0.97
24	Easington	67.42	-0.77
25	Waveney	67.27	4.04
26	New Forest	67.08	2.27
27	Sutton	66.84	0.52
28	Portsmouth	66.75	4.02
29	Wandsworth	66.44	1.98
30	Bracknell Forest	66.20	2.35

30 Lowest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:

Rank	Local Authority Area	% Opt Out	% Opt Out Change
1	North Tayside & Angus	10.41	0.47
2	Dumfries & Galloway	13.04	-0.19
3	Perth & Kinross	13.05	0.58
4	Dundee	15.36	2.90
5	Fife	16.00	-0.63
6	Highlands & W Isles	16.51	-1.30
7	Blaenau Gwent	17.35	-0.85
8	Shetland Islands	19.22	1.85
9	Hartlepool	19.54	-1.24
10	Kensington	21.05	-1.18
11	Lothian	21.08	-1.81
12	Orkney	21.24	2.91
13	Glasgow	21.75	-2.54
14	Gedling	22.32	5.45
15	Grampian	22.67	4.25
16	Reigate & Banstead	23.65	-0.25
17	Worcester	24.25	-1.25
18	West Dorset	24.27	-2.93
19	Dunbartonshire	25.18	3.67
20	Boston	25.29	-6.93
21	Argyll & Bute	25.55	3.32
22	Isle of Anglesey	26.04	1.06
23	Bradford	26.38	6.16
24	Merthyr Tydfil	26.72	1.69
25	Kingston upon Hull	26.84	1.66
26	Haringey	27.17	1.96
27	Gwynedd	27.27	2.73
28	Kettering	27.44	-1.91
29	Bolton	27.58	2.10
30	Southampton	28.31	-5.40

Caroline Worboys, Managing Director of Callcredit Information Group - Marketing Solutions division comments:

"As UK businesses struggle to pull themselves out of the recession, these regional disparities provide yet another body blow for those who are trying to drive new sales using 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."

ENDS