2. Will the First Minister provide an update on progress to lower the minimum age for voting in elections in Wales? OAQ51871

Well, we consulted on lowering the voting age for local government elections recently. That change will be implemented for the next elections, given effect through the local government Bill in the autumn. And I know the Llywydd is consulting separately in respect of elections to the Assembly.

I thank the First Minister for that reply. There are strong arguments for reducing the voting age to 16, but would the First Minister agree with me that consistency is also an important element in the law, and if somebody is adult enough to be able to participate in choosing the Government of the country at the age of 16, they should be able to drive a car lawfully, to decide for themselves whether to get their bodies tattooed or pierced, they should be able to buy alcohol lawfully, they shouldn't be subject to any rules on film censorship, and so on and so forth? If we are not to have any consistency across the whole range of the law, what possible justification could there be?

Well, there's no consistency in that case now. I believe that 16-year-olds are well able to vote. They're able, for example, to give their consent for medical procedures. Why then should they not be able to form their own minds, make up their own minds, in terms of who to vote for? They can't drive until they're 17, they can't consume alcohol until they're 18, they can't be a competent driver until they're 21, they can't ride any motorcycle of any engine size until they're 24. There are inconsistencies, of course, but, nevertheless, to my mind, 16 is an appropriate age, and the Scots showed this in their referendum, for young people to be able to vote at.

First Minister, perhaps you've noted that, in Scotland, in the referendum on Scottish independence, the number of 16 and 17-year-olds who voted was 75 per cent. That compares to 54 per cent for the age group just after that—18 to 24—and a very similar differential was present in the 2017 Scottish local elections. Do you agree with me that engraining a habit to vote early offers great benefit to society and allows us to focus on the responsibilities of citizenship, but also our ability to influence what goes on around us in the world in which we live?

Absolutely. In Northern Ireland, in many years gone by, the slogan was, 'Vote early, vote often'. The second bit of it, I suspect, we need to leave out. But the figures speak for themselves. The fact that 16 to 18-year-olds turned out at a far higher rate than those in the immediate age group beyond shows how enthusiastic they are, how engaged they are with the political process, and how important it is that that sense of engagement continues as they get older.

Plaid Cymru supports extending the franchise to young people at 16 and 17-years-old, certainly, but we want to encourage people of all ages to vote in higher numbers, and, to do that, we need to give them good reasons to vote, and you can’t just expect people to vote because you’ve given them the right to do so. So, in your proposals for reforming local authority elections, where are you putting the priority? Is it by ensuring that all votes count via a proportional system, by changing the voting system, elections on different days, electronic voting, voting using different methods? Where do you think you will not only get young people to have the right to vote, but how you will encourage them to vote, too?

Well, there is scope to consider the methods that people use to vote. For example, there’s no reason why every election has to be on a Thursday. Why can’t we have elections on the weekend?  That happens in a number of other countries. Historically, Sunday would be difficult in Wales, but voting happens on the weekend in a number of countries, where more people can go out to vote. In time, I’m sure we will see people being able to vote electronically. Of course, there are issues regarding the security of doing that, but I’m sure they will be resolved. What is crucial is that we ensure that people want to vote, that they understand how the system works, that they have a desire to vote, and then, of course, consider how we could facilitate that further.

First Minister, the proposals announced by the Welsh Government in January to lower the voting age to 16 in local council elections achieved wide cross-party support, and, as the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services has stated,

'Local democracy is all about participation.' 

First Minister, it is our duty to ensure the political rights that we bestow on all our children are allied with commensurate political activity and literacy. What actions, therefore, can the Welsh Government take to ensure that every Welsh child, wherever they are born and educated in Wales, has access to comprehensive and universal civic education at the heart of their education to ensure that they are politically literate on the governance of Wales and the United Kingdom?    

Well, we are developing a new curriculum for Wales and one of the four purposes of the new curriculum is that young people leave education as ethical, informed citizens who are able to understand and exercise their human and democratic responsibilities and rights. Of course, making sure that happens in practice will be an important part of the curriculum, because we know that education is about qualifications, yes, but it's also about developing the whole person and the whole person's knowledge of society around them.