Analysis of 2009 Electoral Roll Opt Out Highlights Worst Council Areas

06 January 2009

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.”

ENDS

For further information please contact:
Eulogy!   0207 927 9999   cig@eulogy.co.uk

Notes to Editors

About the Callcredit Information Group
Callcredit Information Group (www.callcreditgroup.com) brings together experts across the fields of credit referencing, marketing services, interactive solutions and consultative analytics to enable our client base of businesses and consumers to make informed decisions using our innovative products and services. The group is made up of two complementary divisions:

Marketing Solutions, providing specialist knowledge in customer analytics, consumer targeting, database building and hosting, marketing communications, business modelling and market analysis through three market leaders in their own fields: EuroDirect, Broadsystem and GMAP Consulting.

Credit Solutions, encompassing Callcredit, Legatio and DecisionMetrics – specialists in credit risk, ID verification services and tracing tools.

About Broadsystem
Broadsystem (www.broadsystem.com) creates, manages and delivers multi-channel customer communication strategies.  It develops, hosts, and manages marketing databases and, through the intelligent analysis of marketing data, delivers and handles marketing messages through integrated multi-channel communications. Broadsystem clients include: RAF, NHS ‘stop smoking support programme’, Times Newspapers Limited, Sky, Lancôme, Mulberry, BBC World Service, FIVE, Vodafone, ING Direct, Wickes, TUI Group, News Group Newspapers Group, Marriott, Associated Newspapers Ltd.

About EuroDirect
EuroDirect (www.eurodirect.com), the marketing services business within Callcredit information group and is one of the UK’s leading marketing suppliersThe company is well established in the field of direct marketing. Clients include over 40% of the UK's top 1,000 companies, including three of the top five largest multi nationals Examples are Npower, Airmiles, Capital One, Scottish and Southern, Barclaycard and HBOS. EuroDirect is a prime supplier of consumer data, targeting and segmentation systems, credit marketing services and software and technologies to help marketers undertake consumer profiling, analysis, targeting, data management, market analysis and decision support. EuroDirect also works internationally and has developed a suite of international segmentation tools under the CAMEO brand.