Hansard

I am very pleased to open the stage 3 debate on the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Bill and to fulfil the Scottish Government’s commitment to extend the referendum franchise to all 16 and 17-year-olds.

The bill is a crucial first step towards next year’s historic poll and in the journey towards a referendum that is designed, built and made here in Scotland, and I thank everyone who has been involved in its development. In particular, I pay tribute to the thorough and detailed scrutiny of the Referendum (Scotland) Bill Committee, which has been invaluable in shaping an important piece of legislation. I am extremely grateful to the committee’s convener, members and clerks for their very constructive contributions. I also thank my bill team and officials for the incredible amount of hard work that they have done on the bill. The bill has, of course, been introduced and has progressed through the Parliament to a very tight timescale, and has progressed in the latter stages in parallel with the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill.

In addition to the Government’s formal consultation, which sought views on the full range of referendum issues, including the franchise, we have sought detailed views from experts in electoral administration and child protection on the more specific aspects of taking forward our proposals. The key contributors whom I want to thank include electoral registration officers, returning officers, the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, the Electoral Commission, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, the Scottish Information Commissioner, Young Scot and the Scottish Youth Parliament, which has campaigned hard for the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds. It can take great credit and pride from its achievement in seeing the bill pass through the Scottish Parliament, assuming that it does so later on.

The help and advice of all those organisations have proved invaluable in shaping the legislation. That help and advice started with their comments and responses to our targeted consultation exercise in December and continued right through the bill’s development and parliamentary progress. I thank them for their thorough and constructive scrutiny and for their willingness to engage and share their considerable knowledge and expertise.

I hope that members who have been involved in the bill’s progress will acknowledge that we have listened carefully to the range of views that have been expressed and that, where it was appropriate to do so, we have amended our proposals accordingly.

As members are aware, the bill sets out who will be able to vote in the referendum next year. As members are also aware, the franchise is based on the franchise for local government and Scottish Parliament elections, as that most closely reflects residency in Scotland. It is absolutely right that those who live in Scotland should be able to vote on its future and have a say on the matters that affect them. The key difference, of course, is the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds. Young people have a significant stake in this country’s future, and it is absolutely right that they have the opportunity to vote on 18 September next year.

It has been a long-standing policy of the Government that the voting age should be lowered to 16. The bill provides a detailed, workable and practical framework that allows 16 and 17-year-olds to register to vote in the referendum. It provides that a young voter registration form will be sent to every household in Scotland this year along with the annual household canvass. Those forms will collect details of all young people who will be eligible to vote in the referendum whose details would not otherwise be captured by the canvass. As I said in the debate on the last amendment that we debated, the form has been independently tested and the results of that testing were that it is clear, intelligible and easy to use. The testing report recommended a variety of minor changes to the form, which we took on board at stage 2, but generally the form was found to work well, and no eligible young voters were missed.

In recognition of the fact that we need to treat the details of those who are not yet 16 with particular care, the bill provides for the creation of a separate register of young voters to hold the data collected on the young voter registration forms. Access to that register will be strictly controlled. I note that all members agreed to that as the bill progressed through Parliament.

As I have said, the bill has benefited enormously from the input of stakeholders and the bill committee. The majority of the amendments that I lodged at stage 2 were a direct result of comments from stakeholders or were based on the results of the independent testing of the form. For example, EROs told us that it was important to specify the date of the end of the canvass for the register of young voters in the legislation, because that would provide clarity about when the canvass period for young voters ends and rolling registration begins, and that it was important to bring that into line with the canvass period for the local government register. Therefore, I lodged amendments to that effect at stage 2, which were accepted by the committee. I also lodged a number of amendments regarding the young voter form, which resulted from the testing process. Those changes were aimed at ensuring that the form will be as clear, intelligible and easy to use as possible.

Further, earlier this afternoon, I proposed a final change to the form. Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People and the Scottish Information Commissioner stressed the importance of young people knowing that alternative routes of registration might be open to them if there are any concerns at all that inclusion in the register might affect their personal safety. They suggested that a sentence might be added to the form to achieve that, which was a suggestion that was included in the committee’s stage 1 report. That is why the amendment that was debated and agreed to this afternoon was lodged. The amendment makes it clear that individuals can use a previous address to register, or can register anonymously if there are concerns about their personal safety. Importantly, it also suggests that they contact their electoral registration officer to discuss any concerns.

The next household canvass, which begins in the autumn of this year, will see young voters being asked to register for the first time. EROs will collate that information into a register of young voters, upon which, as I have already said, there will be strict access controls.

I assure Parliament that we and the Electoral Commission will continue to work closely with EROs to ensure that the collection of data for the register of young voters is as efficient and effective as possible. I am sure that we will return to this point during the passage of the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, but the referendum will be run to the highest standards of fairness and transparency, and the efficacy of the registration process plays a vital part in that.

Although the bill’s main focus has been the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds, we have also had a robust debate around the rights or otherwise of prisoners to vote in the referendum. As I said earlier, I want to thank members who have ensured that we have had a thorough debate on the issue. Although I took a different view, I respect the views of those who advocated change. I understand and appreciate that they did so from a position of principle. Although I hope that the passing of the bill today will settle the matter for the purposes of the referendum, I have no doubt that the issue will be debated again with regard to elections in this place and elsewhere.

This bill is an important milestone. It marks the first stage in legislating for a referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future. Those of us who passionately advocate a yes vote do so because we believe that the responsibility for the decisions that shape our country and the lives of the people who live here should rest here in Scotland. It is entirely consistent with that principle of responsibility that our 16 and 17-year-olds, who assume many of the responsibilities of adulthood, should have the right to participate in the referendum and play their part in determining the country’s future.

The bill determines the franchise for the referendum, which will be consistent with the franchise for elections to this Parliament, which is right and proper. In addition, it lowers the voting age for the referendum to 16, recognising the vital stake that young people have in the future of our country. I believe that the proposals in the bill are a practical and workable way to allow every eligible voter aged 16 or over to vote in the referendum next year.

It therefore gives me enormous pleasure to move,

That the Parliament agrees that the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Bill be passed.

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