5. What discussions has the Minister had with the Counsel General regarding working with schools and colleges to ensure that more young people register to vote? OQ56947

Supporting young people to exercise their democratic rights is a priority not just for education, but for the whole of Government. I'm discussing with the Counsel General ways we can work together to drive up registration of 16 and 17-year-olds.

Thank you very much, Minister, as it is crucially important, isn't it? That's why we're here—we're discussing the future of these young people, and it was a huge disappointment, I'm sure, to most of us here today how few young people did vote: about half of 16 and 17-year-olds. Less than half of 16 to 17-year-olds registered to vote. Another problem is accessibility in voting. I remember speaking to a young 17-year-old after the polling stations had closed, and she said she didn't have an opportunity to vote. She said she went straight from school to work and didn't have an opportunity to vote, therefore. What discussions are you, as a Government, having with schools and colleges in order to demonstrate how important voting is, but also to make it more accessible for them to vote? Thank you.

Well, I share the Member's interest in ensuring that we increase the registration levels of 16 and 17-year-olds. It was some 43 per cent in that age group who registered, as compared to some 77 per cent of the population generally, so, certainly, we need to support our young people in registering to vote. There are two elements in terms of the work that I can do in ensuring that. Part of that is related to the work on the curriculum, and the Member will know just how important awareness of the democratic context and our institution is in delivering the curriculum in a way that supports our learners. But we also have some specific interventions in place, including, during the last election—the Member may be aware of this—in one of the schools in his region, a pilot on ensuring that pupils could question politicians online, and that has been successful. We are formally evaluating the pilot at the moment in the hope of extending it in a way that can support our schools across Wales. One of the other things that we've been doing is providing a funding source for all local authorities in Wales to support the recruitment of people to drive up registration levels among those who've just got the right to vote, including 16 and 17-year-olds, or those who've chosen not to register for any reason. So, there are interventions in terms of the curriculum, but also in supporting pupils more directly.