Hampshire County Council AMENDED DECISION SHEET

Cabinet Item 10

22 September 2003

Electoral Commission Consultations - The Cycle of Local Government Elections in England and Minimum Voting and Candidacy Age

Report of the Chief Executive

Contact: David Hinxman, ext 7339

1 Summary

1.1 The following decision was taken:-

That the attached report, amplified as appropriate to reflect the Cabinet's discussions, be forwarded to the Electoral Commission as comprising the County Council's views in response to its consultation

papers on the cycle of local government elections in England and the

minimum voting and candidacy age, with particular support for whole council elections combined with other elections as appropriate, and a common voting/candidacy age of 18 years.

2 Reason

2.1 The Electoral Commission has requested responses to its consultations on the issues referred to in 1.1 above by respectively, 3 October and 31 October 2003.

3 Other options considered and rejected:

3.1 Not applicable.

4 Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted

4.1 Not applicable.

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable.

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable.


Approved by: (signature) Date: (date of decision)

Councillor T. K. Thornber, C.B.E.

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Hampshire County Council

Cabinet

22 September 2003

Electoral Commission Consultations - The Cycle of Local Government Elections in England and Minimum Voting and Candidacy Age

Report of the Chief Executive

Contact: David Hinxman - Ext: 7339

1. Introduction

1.1. The Electoral Commission has issued consultation papers on both the cycle of Local Government Elections in England and a review of the minimum voting age and candidacy age for elections and referendums in the United Kingdom. Comments have been invited by 3 October and 31 October respectively.

2. The cycle of Local Government Elections in England

2.1. The Government has invited the Electoral Commission to review the cycle of Local Elections in England and identify options for change that would simplify the current arrangements. The Government's aim is to improve voter awareness of when elections take place, thereby encouraging greater engagement. Currently, as Members will be aware, voting hours and the run up to elections vary according to the type of election taking place. Electors in different parts of England may be able to vote between 1 and 4 times in each 4 year electoral cycle depending on where they live. Many of the issues have been rehearsed previously, when the Government was consulting on its "modernisation" agenda and the key arguments are:-

For Partial Election:

· More frequent opportunities for electors to exercise their right to vote


· May facilitate more immediate political accountability


· May tend to produce less drastic changes in political direction and provide greater political continuity


· Can ensure that the political composition of authorities more accurately reflects the current political complexion of local areas


· May reduce the likelihood that the timing of important or controversial decisions are distorted by the timing of elections

For whole Council elections:

· Greater possibility of wholesale change in control may encourage participation


· Too frequent elections might dilute public interest


· Opportunity for all electors in an area to influence the composition of the authority at the same time


· May tend to encourage greater long term planning by authorities and discourage continuous election campaigning

3. Comment

3.1. The Council has previously expressed the view that stability is a key factor to ensure the delivery of efficient and effective services to the people of Hampshire. Combining Hampshire County Council elections with the Parliamentary elections in 1997 and 2001 resulted in a significantly increased turn out, particularly in1997, than might otherwise have been expected. In terms of public participation and engagement, therefore, combining elections appears to have a worthwhile impact on electoral participation. The County Council is convinced that having elections too frequently is most likely to dilute public interest and, whilst partial elections may facilitate more immediate political accountability, the County Council believes that the development of community partnerships and the encouragement for all members to develop their roles as community leaders ensures that political accountability is now more evidently in the forefront of local affairs.

In terms of the more local issues, many of which are the responsibility of the District Councils, then the County Council believes that there may well be a case for more frequent elections so that the electorate's views on current local issues does more accurately reflect the current local political feeling. Such an approach is not considered appropriate for a strategic authority such as the County Council. An important factor for the County Council, therefore, is that the process of casting the votes is made more user friendly and flexible. The current four year cycle of County Council elections has ensured that, whichever political group has been in power, it has been able to plan for the longer term and deliver services subject only to overriding demands made by the Government.

The local Commission also indicate that in considering any options for change to the current cycle of local government elections in England, their recommendations may involve changes to councillors' terms of office and local authorities' electoral arrangements in England including the number of councillors for the local authority area, the boundaries of wards or divisions for the area, and the number of wards or divisions for the area. The Council's evidence in relation to the periodic electoral review clearly indicated a preference for single member electoral divisions and a small increase in the number of divisions within the County. Divisional boundaries are the subject of the current Boundary Committee for England review.

4. Conclusion

4.1 Whilst noting the arguments for and against partial elections and whole council elections it is considered that, on balance, whole council elections, combined with other elections, as appropriate, are more likely to result in stable government and community satisfaction with local democratic arrangements and service provision. Whilst secondary to enhancing community engagement, more frequent elections will also have a more significant cost attached to them and the expectation would be that these extra costs would be funded by the Government. The views of the Cabinet are sought.

5.1 Minimum Voting and Candidacy Age

Introduction

5.1 To vote in all elections within the United Kingdom an individual must be at least 18 years old at present. Prior to 1969 the minimum age was 21 years old. In the United Kingdom there is no standard legal "age of majority" and different minimum ages apply to different activities. The Electoral Commission believes that the time is right to review the current minimum age at which people can take part in elections and is inviting views.

How Old is Old Enough?

5.2 The minimum voting age in most Western democracies is 18 years although there are some variations within countries. The Electoral Commission, however, is particularly concerned about declining participation rates in UK elections, especially among young people.

5.3 Nationally a number of initiatives have been taken recently that might strengthen the link between young people and the democratic process including the introduction of citizenship education in secondary schools and the increasing use of elected school councils. The key issues are:

· Will lowering the voting age or allowing younger candidates to stand for election encourage young people to take part in elections?

· Will lowering the voting age or the age for standing as a candidate increase the levels of trust between young people and politicians?

· Is citizenship education changing young people's knowledge and interest in elections and democracy?

5.4 The main argument supporting the status quo has been that most voters under 18 and candidates under 21 would not be sufficiently mature to use those rights properly whilst results of straw polls conducted by the Electoral Commission recently have indicated that young people themselves are fairly evenly split on whether or not the minimum ages should be lowered.

5.5 Key independent commissions, one for Scotland, one for England and one for
Wales have recently recommended lowering the voting age and/or the candidacy age for local elections. The Local Government Association also supports a lower voting age of 16. The County Council is very mindful of the need to strengthen its links with young people and, from their contact with the representatives of the UK Youth Parliament and with young people around the County may feel that voters under the age of 18 and candidates under 21 years old would be sufficiently mature to use those rights properly and would not be more likely to act irresponsibly or be more easily influenced by others. Citizenship education and closer involvement and participation in local affairs will help to develop young people and prepare them for such new responsibilities and encourage them to exercise their democratic rights.

6. Conclusion

6.1 Citizenship education should make an impact on young people and increase their awareness of politics, democracy and government generally. The County Council took a strong lead in this respect before the introduction of citizenship education into the national curriculum and may feel that there is much to be gained from lowering the voting age and allowing younger candidates to stand for election given sufficient evidence nationally that real progress is being made. Many would say that if you can defend your country at 18 years of age then you should have the right not only to cast your vote at any election but also to stand as a candidate for election.

Recommendation:

That this report be forwarded to the Electoral Commission as comprising the County Council's views in response to their consultation papers on the cycle of local government elections in England and the minimum voting and candidacy age, with particular support for whole council elections combined with other elections as appropriate, and a common voting/candidacy age of 18 years.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1 Published works.

2 Documents which disclosure exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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