Further to the proposals for electoral reform, will the Cabinet Secretary confirm whether he has instructed either the Boundary Commission and/or local authorities to use 16 and 17 year olds in their figures when looking at reviewing electoral ward boundaries?
Local authorities supply the number of local government electors to the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission (LDBCW) at the beginning of their electoral review. This number should include a five –year projection figure of those who are currently under the voting age but will attain the age of 18 within five years.
The Local Democracy (Wales) Act 2013 then allows the LDBCW to consider any changes to the number or distribution of local government electors which is likely to take place in the period of five years immediately following the making of any recommendation to Welsh Ministers and whether this is a material consideration.