The Electoral Commission has criticised Government plans to bring forward the shift to Individual Electoral Registration (IER) to the end of 2015.

Cabinet Office minister John Penrose has announced the Government has overruled the Commission’s recommendations to hold over transition until December 2016.

In a statement Mr Penrose, said: ‘The Government does not agree that we should be making a choice between completeness and accuracy, given the importance of both elements in delivering a fair democratic system which commands the confidence and respect of voters.

‘We need to be more ambitious. We can and should aim to achieve both, which is why the Government believes it is crucial that the registers used to conduct the Parliamentary boundary review and for next year’s elections are as complete and as accurate as they can possibly be.’

The Electoral Commission has said it is ‘disappointed’ with the decision. Chair of the Commission, Jenny Watson, said: ‘The implementation of the new registration system has gone well so far. But taking into account the data and evidence which is available to us at this point, and the scale and importance of the polls scheduled for next May, we still recommend that the end of transition should take place in December 2016 as set out in law.’

In a report on the transition last month, the Electoral Commission said there were still two million voters still to sign for IER, and it was uncertain how quickly electoral registration officers will be able to bridge the gap.