The new Electoral Register is published on 1 December – but you won’t be on it and able to vote in any elections and referendums held next year if you haven’t responded to letters sent to you over the past couple of months by the Elections Office. Individual Electoral Registration – recently introduced to tackle voting fraud – means that everyone is now responsible for registering themselves. It’s having a major impact on the number of people on the register. Those most at risk of falling off the register are people whose circumstances have recently changed – for example those able to register now they’ve turned 16 or 17 years, those who have recently moved into a new area, home, household or care home, or students starting university. If you are a Student, you can register at both your term time and home addresses and you can vote in both Local Elections. You risk a poor credit rating for things like mobile phones, loans and mortgages as credit companies use the register for checks. You will need your National Insurance number in order to register.

To find out more go to http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/register-to-vote

To get hold of your National Insurance number go to http://www.gov.uk/lost-national-insurance-number’