Latest news in Yorkshire: July 12, 2017 01:48:28 PM
Council leaders in Rotherham are being urged to back plans to lower the voting age to 16, following a plea from local teenagers
Members of Rotherham Council are being asked to support a motion by the town’s Youth Cabinet at this week’s Full Council.
If they back it then this will help enable the national Youth Parliament to lobby the Government to reduce the age when people can vote from the current age of 18 to the age of 16.
The Youth Cabinet – a national representation of elected young people at local level – has already had an indication from a pre-meeting with members that this vote will be backed. They want to gain support for voting rights for 16 and 17 year olds in public elections and referendums in the UK.
Thomas Jackson, aged 17, who is a member of Youth Parliament representing Rotherham, said: “Rotherham is moving forward as a child-friendly borough with particular focus on children and young people.
“People my age and many others already have jobs and contribute to the local economy. At 16, you can get married legally, have a national insurance number, and be paid national minimum wage. We have strong views and ideas on how the town should develop for the future, and if young people my age can do all this, then it only makes sense that we should be able to elect those who represent us, and decide our future, on a national level.”
The UK Youth Parliament, established in the late 1990s, is a non-political representation of 364 elected members aged 11-18 across the UK, who aim to increase political awareness in younger people. This is by providing a platform for discussion at a national level and by encouraging schools to teach a ‘curriculum of life’, involving learning about mortgages, taxes and neutral political education.
Rotherham Council Leader Cllr Chris Read added: “There is a strong movement of young people getting engaged with politics which can only be a good thing as politics should be for everyone.
“The Youth Cabinet is showing that young people here in Rotherham are absolutely in tune with this changing political landscape, and there is a real appetite for inclusion amongst younger people.
“Rotherham is transforming into a child-friendly borough, and supporting 16 and 17 year olds with their right to vote will fall in line with our vision for the town and its future.”
Youth Cabinet will present their proposal at Full Council on Wednesday (12 July).
Meanwhile Rotherham’s Youth Cabinet is also pushing the Make Your Mark national Youth Parliament campaign.
Since 2000, the UK Youth Parliament has provided a voice for young people to be involved in decision making. Make Your Mark gives young people aged 11-18 the chance to decide what Members of Youth Parliament should debate and vote on during their sitting in the House of Commons November 10.
The town’s Youth Cabinet and the Council are encouraging as many children as possible to sign up to this chance to have their voices and issues heard on a national platform.
Last year over 975,000 pupils took part in the Make Your Mark nationally and this year the hope is to surpass the one million mark.
Schools and colleges interested in this need to register by July 23 this year and take part on the consultation, which runs from August 12 to October 6 2017. To register, go to the UK Youth Parliament Website
The school or college with the highest percentage turnout will win five tickets to the House of Commons viewing gallery of the event on November 10.
- Landlord pleads guilty to waste offence
- Stepping Up To The Real Situation With Coronavirus In Wath
- A message from Chief Constable Stephen Watson QPM
- Renewed appeal following fatal collision, Barnsley
- Highway Code rules updated
- Mexborough man gets 3 years behind bars
- Third man sentenced for Rotherham bank raid
- A new miller has been found for the 17th Century Worsbrough Mill
- Malicious communications arrests
- New rules for landlords come into force on Monday – RMBC reminder
- Crime prevention advice issued following Sheffield burglaries.
- Pet crematorium to open in much-loved Cannon Hall Park
- Cot bed designer jailed over York baby choke death failure
- Two men fatally injured in Barnsley collision
- New Rother Valley campsite now taking bookings
- Wath All Saints Church Stonework
- Serious collision – Swinton, Rotherham
- Rotherham Doorman In Court
- Child in critical condition following Dodworth collision, Barnsley
- Stonehenge was ‘hub for Britain’s earliest mass parties’
- UK’s first Tram Train to welcome passengers this month
- Council seeks to change rules on sex establishments
- Three more prosecutions for Blue Badge abuse
- Woman dies after car hits broken down car on M1
- Men found guilty over death of Rotherham man
- Fined for using substitute meat in curry
- Officers appeal for witnesses to Wath-upon-Dearne assault
- Sheffield man found guilty of murder
- Power to be handed back to Rotherham council
- Sheffield fraudster jailed for seven years
- SY Police Cadet recruitment now open!
- Boys to be dealt with for damage to Barnsley monument
- Officers warn about bogus officials
- Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) Rotherham Town Centre and Clifton Park
- Dearne Shoplifter Found And Jailed
- Prison for Sheffield man who robbed young couple at knife point
- Jury out on Taxi driver accused of rape
- Awards of over £1.9 million from the Arts Council’s Capital
- Wath Central Station
- 9 years for drug dealing thief