Poor turnout at local elections has led to questions about the health of democracy locally.

And after a series of talks to discuss ways to get more people involved Kirklees wants to be a test area for votes at 16.

It’s among 48 ideas put forward and backed by an all-party group of Kirklees councillors, Kirklees Youth Council and politics experts at Huddersfield University.

The ideas are in response to concerns about the health of democracy that were triggered by poor voter turnout at local elections and in the wake of the divisive Brexit referendum and the murder of local MP Jo Cox.

Just 36% of people voted at the last local elections in Kirklees, though the figure does rise if it coincides with a general election.

The Kirklees Democracy Commission has been hailed as a ground-breaking exercise and is chaired by Dr Andy Mycock, Reader in Politics at the University of Huddersfield.

Dr Mycock said the 48 recommendations are “realistic and firmly grounded in the evidence gathered” and they “represent important and practical contributions to aid the reinvigoration of local democracy by seeking to develop the knowledge, engagement, and participation of Kirklees citizens.”

They believe schools are a good place to start, with potential for school surgeries between pupils and councillors as part of citizenship education and working with the Local Government Association (LGA) to develop a young councillors apprenticeship scheme, to be piloted in Kirklees.

Councillors also need to define and demonstrate what they do better, supported by Kirklees Council.

University of Huddersfield political expert Dr Andy Mycock
University of Huddersfield political expert Dr Andy Mycock

There’s potential for a quarterly question time event for all political group leaders in Kirklees. It could be broadcast and questions can be submitted online or in person.

Kirklees Council also accepts it needs to be clearer in communicating its decision making to the wider public.

The Commission also looked at the frequency of local elections - they currently take place three out of every four years.

They found money could be saved if elections were every four years, but questioned if people would be less engaged with democracy if they only had to vote once every four years. No change has been proposed.

The Commission looked at whether Kirklees should reduce the number of councillors per ward from three to two.

After looking at evidence they have not found a “compelling case to reduce the number of councillors in Kirklees at the current time”.

It believes that with a shrinking workforce at Kirklees, greater emphasis will be put on councillors.

The Commission hopes all recommendations will be in place by 2020.