There seems to be confusion about whether EDDC has recruited all the canvassers it needs to follow up the missing 6,000 voters. On the one hand CEO Mark Williams told the Parliamentary Select Committee on Voter Engagement at its session this evening that all canvassers had now been recruited, whereas EDA understands that on Tuesday 7th October Jill Humphrys of East Devon District Council put out an appeal to every town and parish clerk in East Devon which read as follows:
Subject: Personal Canvassers – Earn £8.50 per hour – UNCLASSIFIED:
Hi
We are looking for Personal Canvassers to go door knocking between 28 October and 28 November 2014.
Personal Canvassers will be sent out to areas with pre-printed forms and a canvasser worksheet. The aim is to get a form completed on the doorstep, if the first visit is unsuccessful you will leave a calling card and put the form through the letter box. If you spot anything else that could be of use to us such as a new property or different address than we have pre printed, you will make a note on the supplied worksheet.
You will be asked to collect both Household Enquiry Forms and Invitation To Register forms. We will send you an email each Monday and Thursday to let you know of any returns and to prevent any wasted visits! Training and first issue of forms will be on the afternoon of Monday 27 October. We are paying £8.00 per hour (hours to be recorded on a timesheet), 45p per mile and 50p per form that you return to the office and that is determined as a completed application or provides sufficient information to enable us to remove someone.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information (01395 517550).
Kind regards. Jill
East Devon Watch 
The timing of this email looks interesting.
Soon after Mark Williams is called to give evidence, an email is issued to Parish Clerks asking if they know anyone who might be interested.
Based on my own experiences, public sector recruitment practices would typically involve a formal job specification, a formal application process, a deadline for applications, and a date for interviews. Indeed the first round of recruitment had all of these, but this email contains none of them.
To me, this email looks like a panic attempt to create evidence of action soon after Mark Williams had been called to give evidence to the Select Committee.
I would also note that the original canvassing period was 21 September to 28 November, but whilst the start date has now changed to 27 October, the end date has not moved. Should we expect this to be a quality canvas as required for the implementation of IER when the time-scales are so compressed?
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This is worth a look:
Click to access ERO-Guidance-Manual-2014.pdf
The section on Making House to House Enquiries starts on Page 75 and details the process for recruiting canvassers.
Recruitment of canvassers
2.33 As an early part of the canvass planning process, the Electoral
Registration Officer should determine how canvassers are to be used
and, as a result, how many canvassers are likely to be required. In
particular, the Electoral Registration Officer will need to ensure that
sufficient time is built into the process for the recruitment and training of
canvassers. Guidance should be sought from the appointing authority’s
human resources department in terms of how long any recruitment
process may take.
2.34 Since the canvass is an annual process, a key source for
recruitment of canvassers may well be persons who have been
employed as canvassers in previous years. The performance of
canvassers should be monitored annually and any canvassers whose
past performance has been unsatisfactory should not be used again.
2.35 Also, it should be remembered that the appointing local authority is
under a legal obligation to provide the Electoral Registration Officer with
the necessary staff to enable them to fulfil their statutory functions.105
2.36 Some Electoral Registration Officers take the view that canvassers
should be employed in the same area in successive years, thus gaining
a detailed knowledge of their ‘rounds’. Others take the alternative view
that rotation of the areas allocated can be beneficial as canvassers may
need to be more alert in an unfamiliar area. Both approaches are
acceptable and so individual Electoral Registration Officers should
consider the consequences of both alternatives and any local
circumstances before confirming their staff allocations.
2.37 If new canvassers are needed, potential sources of recruitment
include:
> staff who are employed by the Returning Officer to assist with the
election, including polling station, postal vote and count staff
> a waiting list of potential canvassers built over time
> information placed on the council or Electoral Registration Officer’s
website or sent out via email
> tenants and residents associations
> advertisements around the offices and other departments of the local
council
> ethnic minority and local community groups
> job advertisements at the local Jobcentre
> local newspaper advertisements
> word-of-mouth: canvassers themselves may know of other suitable
people who would be willing to work as canvassers. In some areas it
may be appropriate to consider paying an ‘introduction fee’ to any
canvasser introducing another to the Electoral Registration Officer.
2.38 Electoral Registration Officers should liaise with their HR
department early in the process in order to ensure that any recruitment
exercise complies with the relevant recruitment and selection and
diversity policies, and to confirm the relevant employment policies. It
may be necessary to require potential employees to complete a formal
application form. The Electoral Registration Officer should draw up a job
description and person specification for canvassers, which will assist
with the preparation of a contract of employment for the canvasser. The
Commission’s view is that all temporary canvassers should have
contracts of employment.
The Commission has developed a template canvasser job description,
which can be downloaded from the Commission’s website.
2.39 In addition to the usual personal details, it is important to ascertain
the following about potential canvassers:
> their availability to work, and in particular the availability to work
evenings and/or weekends
> the availability of, or access to, transport (and, in the case of car drivers,
that they have adequate car insurance to cover them for business use)
> their ability to work outside, in all weathers
> details of any convictions (whether spent or not)
their interpersonal skills
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