Salmond outlines plans for young

Oct 20 2012

Young people will get a vote in the independence referendum, parenting advice and the chance to work in a call centre under a raft of announcements by the First Minister.

Legislation to give all 16 and 17-year-olds a vote in the referendum was announced by Alex Salmond during his keynote speech at the SNP autumn conference in Perth.

He has also given over £2 million of public money to mobile firm Three to help train 380 new workers, primarily young people, to sell and mend phones in Glasgow.

And Mr Salmond earmarked £11 million to expand a US-inspired programme designed to get young mothers back to work and cut the number of unintended pregnancies throughout Scotland.

The referendum would only be open to some 16-year-olds if it uses the existing voters roll, so further legislation is required to extend the franchise.

"It is absolutely vital that all 16 and 17-year-olds are in a position to have their say if the Referendum Bill includes proposals to give them the vote," he said.

"It would be totally unsatisfactory to be in a situation where some of those in that age bracket were able to vote but others were not because of the way the electoral roll is currently constructed.

"This Bill will close that potential loophole and make sure that every single person in Scotland who is aged 16 or over on the day of the referendum will be in a position to vote."

The First Minister also announced that £1.8 million and £270,000 from public bodies Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland will be given to Three to train call centre staff.

The cash, which amounts to over £5,000 a head for every new worker, will support training opportunities at Three's expanded centre in Glasgow. He said the expansion follows talks he held with the managing director of Three parent-company Hutchison Whampoa during his visit to Hong Kong last December.