Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2025: equality impact assessment

Recommendations and Conclusion

The changes made in this Order which impact on people are not expected to have any negative impacts on any protected characteristic, nor any direct or indirect unlawful discrimination. For this reason, no mitigating action has been identified or deemed necessary.

Through the process of considering the impacts of this Order, a change was made to the provision relating to registering to vote by declaration of local connection. Elections Team officials engaged with the Children and Young People team to establish the age at which the ability to register through a declaration of local connection should end. On the advice of this team, the upper limit was set at age 21, so as to include young people with care experience who can face specific barriers in registering to vote. Prior to this engagement, there had been discussion about whether the provision should cease to apply at age 18 or 19.

In Scotland, children and young people may remain ‘looked after’ until they are 18. Some children and young people who leave care on or after their 16th birthday, and who have been looked after in foster, kinship or residential care are eligible for Continuing Care under section 67 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (the 2014 Act). This means that eligible children and young people can stay with their carers or families under the same care arrangements until their 21st birthday.

Children and young people moving on from care experience multiple transitions, for example, from school into further or higher education, training or employment, and on to more independent living. At this time, many care-experienced children and young people are supported through transitional or supported accommodation before moving to a permanent address.

As a result of the evidence relating to looked after children and those in continuing care, the decision was made that a higher cut-off age would be most beneficial to this group of young people, and the provision applies to young people up until their 21st birthday.

Monitoring and Review

The changes made in this Order will come into force ahead of the May 2026 Scottish Parliament election. After each election, the Electoral Commission publishes a report discussing how the election was run. This report includes assessment of the experience of voters, and the accessibility of the election. The report which will be published after the 2026 Scottish Parliament election will be assessed for any impacts on the protected characteristics explored in this impact assessment as a result of the changes made in this Order. Officials regularly engage with the Electoral Commission on the impacts of changes to legislation, and on potential future improvements. This forms part of the Scottish Government’s routine monitoring of the impact of legislative and policy changes on protected characteristic groups.

Officials engage regularly with electoral administrators on the impact of Government policy changes on a range of activities, including electoral registration, and accessibility of elections. Officials will monitor the impact of the change to registering to vote by declaration of local connection with Electoral Registration Officers and assess whether any further changes are required to help affected children and young people register to vote.