My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 13, 14 and 15, which have my name attached to them, and in support of the noble Lord, Lord Roberts. I commend the noble Lord’s persistence in his work in this area. I also thank the Minister for meeting us last week. We had a good opportunity to explain the reasoning behind our amendments.
My thinking on this issue has been brought to the fore because of the number of young people I speak to about their involvement in politics. Some of it has been formed by the work I do with the House of Lords outreach programme, and I commend the work of the Lord Speaker’s Office on that. I also support the work of Bite the Ballot, a non-party-political organisation, and I have been to a number of its events here in the Palace of Westminster, where we see the change in young people when they realise that their voice and their vote matter. We see what happens when they become engaged. I am concerned about the number of young people in the wider world who just do not see the value. We can argue that perhaps it is their fault, or their parents’ fault or lots of other people’s fault that they are not engaged. But we have to find a way to ensure that young people see the value that they have.
Because of the lateness of the hour I shall limit my speech, and just ask a few questions for clarification. I shall be happy if the Minister wishes to write back to me on these matters. The noble Lord, Lord Roberts, has already raised the 35% turnout in the Assembly elections. For me what is most worrying, in terms of engagement, is that only 12% of 18 to 24 year-olds say that they are certain to vote. As the levels are so low, I ask the Minister what action she sees as necessary to bring about change.
Is it not right to instruct the EROs to go into schools and colleges—first, because that that is where young people are obliged to be; secondly, because in Wales, owing to its rural nature, other registration methods cannot be as effective; and thirdly, in view of the success in Northern Ireland, where the chief electoral officer has said repeatedly that this is a “no-brainer” and that he expects Wales to be as successful? It makes absolute sense to go where young people are.
As everyone acknowledges that there is a problem, and everyone praises the Northern Ireland schools initiative, there are two options. Either this is about funding or it is not. If it is about funding, should not the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly sit down with the CEOs of the 22 Welsh local authorities and ensure that there is money available? If it is not about money, I do not understand why we do not put the duty on the EROs. We give them a duty to go door to door to register adults. Surely it is an awful lot easier to go into schools, where young people already are.
Are we really saying that we do not trust these people to register attainers? I am not a revolutionary, but we need a registration revolution in the UK. That process can and should, I believe, start in Wales. Registering all young people in schools and colleges should be a
question of when, not if. There is lots of support for this measure. I think that most Members have today received a letter listing the Assembly Members and party leaders who support it.
Finally, has the Minister spoken to all four leaders to ascertain their level of support? In the light of the positive response earlier this afternoon about votes at 16 and the amendments to come forward, perhaps she will favourably consider the amendments.
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