Voting at 16

Question

11:48:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government when they expect to lower the voting age to 16, and whether they will take steps to raise the proportion of young people registered to vote to the same level as for those aged over 25.

My Lords, the Government will introduce legislation as soon as time allows during this Parliament to give 16 and 17 year-olds the right to vote in all elections. We recognise that too many young people are not currently registered to vote. We are committed to improving voter registration and supporting young people to register. We believe that, by building a strong foundation for democratic participation among young people, we can establish habits that will continue as they grow older.

My Lords, the proposed change is welcome, and unless we change the voting age soon, young people may continue having to wait until they are 20 or 21 to cast their first vote in a general election. But would it not make sense to have the same age for voting in all elections across the UK, starting in 2027? In any event, will the Government now implement the unanimous cross-party recommendation of the House of Lords Select Committee and automatically include 16 and 17 year-olds on the electoral registers at the same time as they are given their national insurance numbers? That would put them in readiness to be able to vote whatever the age was.

My Lords, let me first say that the Government were elected on a clear mandate, which included lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK. This is a major change in the electoral franchise and we need to get it right. Changes of this magnitude to the electoral law require careful planning and should not be rushed. On the question about national insurance, we are looking at different options to ensure that young people can be easily and accurately registered to vote, including enabling people to register when they interact with other government services. The noble Lord keeps pushing, and I give him the good news that we are looking at that.

My Lords, this policy is very welcome. It is always good to extend the franchise, particularly after the voter ID fiasco of recent years, but education is going to be incredibly important, so that young people can use this new right. What plans do the Government have to improve discussions around political education and literacy, media literacy and information and misinformation, because the next election will have a very heavy focus on social media?

My Lords, my noble friend makes an excellent point. We are confident that, with the right education and support, young people will participate meaningfully. Young people are the future of our country and it is only right that they have a say over it. We know that education and engagement are a vital part of implementing this policy and we take empowering and equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need seriously. We want to break down barriers and drive participation. Teaching about democracy and elections already forms a central part of the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4 and can be taught as a non-statutory topic in primary schools.

My Lords, the Minister has addressed the issue of the registration of young people. May I encourage him and the department to give very serious consideration to encouraging online registration? It is simple. We are talking about a generation which is used to using computers and associated forms of social media, and many of them will find online registration to be the best and easiest way of registering for their future votes.

My Lords, let me say first that I always welcome encouragement from the noble Lord, and I will take that back. To address his question directly, we intend to actively explore and test new and more automated methods of registration, including better use of data to identify people who are eligible and integration with other government services to make it easier for people to register. Online registration for voting has been a resounding success, particularly for postal voting. I will take that back and I hope that I can come back to the noble Lord with some meaningful outcomes as a result of our strategy.

My Lords, in light of the Government’s want for more young people to be registered to vote, will they consider a national “Register to Vote Day” for schools, when young people are encouraged to register to vote online in their registration classes?

My Lords, the noble Baroness makes a very strong point. I will take it away, because ultimately we want to get more people registered and able to take part in our democracy. We anticipate that there are between 7 million and 8 million eligible individuals who are currently unregistered or incorrectly registered to vote. We want to make sure that our policies identify and engage underregistered groups, and we will take all measures to ensure that that people can participate comfortably and positively.

My Lords, I have the privilege of being a Lord Lieutenant and therefore presiding at oath-taking at citizenship ceremonies. We always make a point of telling people getting their citizenship that they should register to vote, since otherwise they cannot play a full part in our community life. Can the Minister tell us whether children are actually told, at school or in later education, that this is one way they can take part in our community life? I do not believe that they are.

My Lords, I am going to repeat the answer I gave to my noble friend. Education in our schools is a vital part of implementing this policy. In relation to knowledge and skills, we will work with all stakeholders, including schools, colleges and universities, to ensure maximum participation. I never thought I would see the day when I would be advising a Lord Lieutenant.

My Lords, will the Minister clarify at what age the Government consider someone to be an adult? Is it 17, when a person can apply for a provisional driving licence? Is it 18, when they can marry, stand for Parliament or get a tattoo? Is it 21, when they can adopt a child or apply for a provisional HGV licence? Or is it 16?

My Lords, I am just going to repeat the fact that there are places, both across the United Kingdom—Scotland and Wales, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey—and other places such as Austria, where they have successfully lowered the voting age to 16. Let me repeat this very important point to the noble Lord: evidence from these places shows that those who vote at a younger age are more likely to continue voting as they get older. We have 16 year-olds serving in the British Army. Regardless of the difference in ages that the noble Lord cited, we want to make sure that we get long-term habits enabled and established with young people, since the evidence shows that, later in life, they will be more focused on taking part.

My Lords, earlier this month, there was an absolutely inspiring event in the House, with lots of 16 and 17 year-olds and, indeed, younger students who were very keen, engaged and interested in voting. This was run by the Democracy Classroom network, the Politics Project and others, and it set out a road map to votes at 16. We need lots more political education right across our society. Most of the 16 year-olds I meet are as well prepared to vote as the 60 year-olds are, which is not to say that both cohorts do not need much more education. One point that was made at this event that I thought was really useful was about the importance of youth clubs and other informal organisations. We often talk about education in schools, but are the Government planning to ensure that resources are available also to youth clubs and other more informal organisations?

My Lords, more widely, a programme of work, including engagement with the Electoral Commission, local authorities, think tanks, academic and civil society organisations, is being done to identify the barriers to participation, along with potential interventions to tackle those barriers. This programme of work addresses issues around participation in our democracy, including participation in elections both by those not on the register and those registered but not voting. I am happy to speak to various stakeholders and listen to the views of young people, who are the most important in this aspect.

My Lords, the last Government introduced a number of measures to reduce participation, including photo ID and renewal of postal votes after three years. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, that the only way we are going to get young people and others on the register is auto-enrolment. That is done in many other countries in the world and, if we are to get maximum participation, the Government will have missed an opportunity if they do not do it.

My Lords, my noble friend makes a very interesting point. In relation to this, my department is working with the electoral administration sector and those in the further and higher education sector to explore approaches to help people register. We will, I hope, take steps to move towards what my noble friend wants to do, but it is not straightforward, because electoral law is quite complicated. We do not want to rush this, we want to do it right and it is an important piece of work. On voter ID, my noble friend will be happy to know that we have added bank cards to the list of acceptable voter ID. Bank cards are held by the overwhelming majority of the electorate, and this change will significantly reduce the proportion of legitimate electors who are unable to meet the identification requirements.