Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the age of suffrage for the referendum on membership of the EU.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and I have received representations on many aspects of the Bill including the franchise. This includes correspondence from Parliamentarians and members of the public.

The franchise for the EU referendum is based on the UK Parliamentary franchise with the addition of Members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar. This includes those who are 18 or over on the day of the poll and who are either British citizens resident in the UK; qualifying Commonwealth and Irish citizens who are resident in the UK; and British citizens who have lived overseas for fewer than 15 years and were registered to vote before they left the UK.