London : According to a release from UK Parliament on 9 September, the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee of UK will examines votes at 16 and puts questions to election administrators and youth engagement experts as part of the committee’s modernising elections inquiry (https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9680/modernising-elections/).
The HCLG Committee has also published today a summary of young people’s views (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/54687/documents/303832/default/) on politics and democracy, including the proposal to lower the voting age to 16 in all UK elections.
MPs on the committee will utilise the summary of young people’s views to inform their questions to election and citizen engagement experts on Tuesday.
The published note summarises the views of young people who took part in discussions facilitated by the committee’s activity pack for secondary school-aged young people, launched by the committee in May 2026.
38 submissions were received, with 1510 young people participating overall, from a range of regions across England. Participants came from a range of settings, including schools, community youth groups, and colleges.
The summary note includes headline findings and the key themes raised by young people, including calls for increased political education in schools and the feeling that politicians do not listen to young people.
Votes at 16 evidence session – questions to experts on Wednesday morning
The cross-party group of MPs will explore a range of questions relating to implementing votes at 16 in UK elections, exploring the lessons to be learned from votes at 16 in place for devolved elections in Scotland and Wales for some time.
MPs will also examine questions around access to adequate citizenship education, where people learn about Parliament, government and democratic institutions, and concerns around the impact of socio-economic inequalities on democratic participation.
In discussions based on the committee’s activity pack, young people said they would like their schools to do more to equip them with the skills to navigate an increasingly complex online environment. The committee will examine misinformation, media literacy, and how to tackle political information online. Practical challenges to voting, such as voter identification and registration, will also be explored.
Evidence session, Wednesday 9 September, 10am, Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Witnesses:
From 10am
- Robert Nicol, Vice Convenor, Electoral Management Board for Scotland
- Sandra Matthews, Electoral Services Manager and Deputy Returning Officer, Powys County Council
From 10.45am
- Leigh Middleton OBE, Chief Executive Officer, National Youth Agency
- Dr Christine Huebner, University of Sheffield
- Helen Blachford, Chair of ACT Trustees, Association of Citizenship Teaching
Modernising Elections
Inquiry
The Government has introduced the Representation of the People Bill, which includes its manifesto commitment to lower the voting age to 16. They have described this Bill as “the biggest expansion of democratic participation in a generation”. The Bill had its second reading on 2 March 2026.
This inquiry will examine the health of electoral democracy in the UK today, in light of the decline in voter turnout in recent elections and diminishing voter trust in democratic institutions. We will scrutinise the potential effectiveness of the Government’s proposals for increasing democratic engagement, including its reforms to the voting age and the move towards automated systems of voter registration. We will also consider best practice for implementation of these changes.
The Government have commissioned an independent review, led by Philip Rycroft, into foreign financial interference in UK politics. Our inquiry will also consider this issue and the outcome of that review. The Government have said that the measures in the Representation of the People Bill “will mean foreign actors will no longer be able to use their money to interfere in the UK’s elections.” Our inquiry will assess whether these changes will be effective in closing existing loopholes in the rules governing foreign political donations and whether further reforms are needed.
Large majorities of voters reported seeing some kind of misinformation on social media at the last general election and do not believe that the enough is being done to tackle this. Our inquiry will also take evidence on what more can be done to reduce voters’ exposure to mis- and disinformation.
