Baroness Jan Royall Speech on Voting Age - House of Lords debate, 25th October 2013 My Lords, I often disagree

with the Noble Lord, Lord Tyler, but as he lives in Stroud where the excellent David Drew is our Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate I knew that there must be some issues on which we find common cause. And votes at 16 is clearly one of them. I am very grateful to the Noble Lord for introducing this excellent short Bill which has my full support. Like my Noble Friend, Baroness Smith, I didnt used to be in favour of votes at 16, but over the last few years I have met and exchanged views with hundreds and hundreds of young people, the majority of whom are in favour of votes at 16. Most importantly, those who are not in favour express concern that they do not have enough knowledge to equip them to vote and dont want the press to be their only guide. Well my Lords, if only many of the mllions of people who do vote had the same concern. I am proud that my own Party is now in favour of votes at 16. This policy was not plucked from the air but is the result of a clear policy making process by which it was agreed that the voting age should be reduced but that it must, in parallel, be accompanied by improved citizenship education including active citizenship. Another idea that is currently being discussed by some people inside and outside political Parties, inspired by an excellent ippr paper, is whether or not first time votes should be compulsory. There is clear evidence that once a person votes once, they are likely to continue voting. I wonder if the Noble Lord the Minister has a view on this? The Noble Baroness, Baroness Northover, yesterday told the House how we should look forward to what she regarded as the wonderful new citizenship syllabus. I hope it will be, but one of my concerns is the number of teachers who are qualified to teach citizenship. The Noble Lord, Lord Gardiner of Kimble, wrote me a helpful letter on 21st October in which he informed me that: Data published in the School Workforce Census in January 2013 shows that in November 2012 there were around 8,200 Citizenship teachers teaching in publicly funded schools in England. Of these 7.7 per cent were recorded as having a post A level qualification in the subject. The School Workforce Census showed that there were around 10,000 citizenship teaches of whom 6.2% had a qualification in the subject. I must ask the Noble Lord the Minister, why the huge decrease? What is the Government doing to ensure that there are more qualified citizenship teachers. Who is going to teach the new citizenship syllabus? I hope that the aspiration of my Government will be that at least one teach in every secondary school should be qualified to teach citizenship as well, perhaps, as some other subject. I have seen some shining examples of best practice in citizenship teaching, for example in the Bethnal Green Academy, but it is usually where there is at least one teacher with the appropriate qualifications. Citizenship lessons should enable our young people to understand politics, not just in an academic way, but they want to know how to vote, they want to know what policies are being pursued and developed by political Parties. They want an input. In the past too many schools have been wary about inviting politicians into schools to talk politics, but the young people I meet want this. They dont just want to hear from me, they want to hear from the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, and they want to hear from Local Councillors, MPs and MEPs. It can be no surprise that they have strong views about EMAs, health, transport, policing, crime, their communities. A few weeks ago I was in a 1

primary school in Bradford, talking with a small group of 9 and 10 year olds who face challenges in their lives that you and I could never imagine. I asked them what one thing they would like to happen to make their lives better. One of them talked about broken bottles in her street which made it difficult to play. After a chat she decided to write to her local Councillor but the group also decided to ask the fantastic Joshua Project, a community project for young people, to help them sweep up the streets in question, get rid of broken glass and nettles and plant flowers. I have no doubt that this is happening. This is what citizenship is all about, understanding where power lies in this case with the Council and how to influence it, but also being active in shaping communities. That is why we are in favour not only of good citizenship teaching but also active citizenship. I could cite many examples but would draw special attention to the Prendergast Ladywell Fields College in Lewisham where the students have been instrumental in creating the CitySafe Haven and to the Behtnal Green Academy where, having undertaken local surveys they worked with local police to cut crime in the immediate area. Both schools work closely with London Citizens who do a stunning job. My Lords, these young people are now active citizens who do and will want to take an active part in our democracy by voting at 16, and they should do so. I agree with everything that the Noble Baroness, Baroness Kidron, said this morning and in her speech during the second reading of the Transparency of Lobbying debate. Young people are often involved in single issue campaign but this is often the start of a broader political understanding and a journey towards democratic engagement. So why is the government seeking to stifle the voices of the campaigners and to curb their capacity to campaign in the year before an election? The Noble Lord the Minister did not answer that question on Tuesday night and I doubt that he will do so today. The Noble Lord mentioned Bite the Ballot and I am a huge supporter of this organisation and of Michael Sani and his colleagues who do a brilliant job. They aspire to reverse the pattern of poor electoral turnout a shameful 44% of 18 to 24 year olds at the last election and, in giving young people a voice, they hope to make their votes and opinions count in the political arena. Having seen Bite the Ballot in action I want to clone their energy and their inspirational work. I was present at one session with my Noble Friend, Lord Bassam and my Rt Hon Friend, Tristram Hunt MP, before he became our Shadow Secretary of State for Education. We were at the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College where citizenship is thriving, however, at the start of the session only two or three students had registered to vote. At the end of the session students were clamouring for voter registration forms so that they could ensure that their voice was heard in the next elections. My Lords, this is not about hunting for votes and I know that some of the students who registered at BASHVIC will vote Conservative, LibDem or Green, but it is important that young people vote. I wonder what plans the Government has to make registration forms available in schools, sixth form colleges, FE colleges and universities as a matter of course? As we know, the introduction of individual electoral registration will disproportionately affect your people so I am delighted that Bite the Ballot is working in collaboration with many organisations and educational establishments to ensure a robust and reliable Electoral Register before the transition to IER in 2014. Its very good news that 22 Youth Engagement Officers are being hired in local communities working within Local Authorities encouraging voter registration and working on collaborative campaigns such as National Voter Registration day.

And a brand new YouTube channel is being launched in collaboration with a well know channel that already has a weekly following of 200,000 viewers. This new channel will take issues and current affairs directly to a youth audience and educational establishments- ensuring calls to action such as voter registration and active citizenship. I hope that the Government will strongly support this initiative. My Lords I think that we all have a responsibility, from all political parties and none, to ensure that as many people as possible are registered to vote so that they can exercise their democratic right. One of our biggest democratic challenges in this country is lack of trust in the political system, a strong anti politics feeling and apathy. A lethal combination in a democracy and it means that too often those that most need a voice dont have a voice. Votes at 16 is a great way of energising the debate and it is also the right thing to do. In a debate last night with the Oxford Labour Club everyone recognised that this Governments policies have had a profound effect upon the lives of young people and it is right that young people should have a say in who makes and implements those policies. ENDS