WALTHAM Forest Council wants to lower the age at which people can stand for election to 16 to enable children to become councillors.

The proposal, which would also allow children to vote, is one of 300 ideas submitted by councils to the Local Government Association (LGA) as part of a drive to improve communities.

Council leader Chris Robbins said the move would be unlikely to lead to the voting and standing age for elections being reduced, but he hopes it might be reduced for referenda.

Cllr Robbins said: “This is something that has come out of forums with young people, they want to become more involved.

“Every group has its own contribution to make and some young people would use their vote more responsibily than some adults.”

The council's opposition Conservative group has yet to discuss its response to the proosals.

But Tory group leader Matt Davis dismissed the proposal as “Labour party gimmickry”

Cllr Davis said: “Of all the things that the council could have asked for they have gone for this.

“It shows the real dearth of imagination that exists in the Labour party in Waltham Forest.”

The new Sustainable Communities Act allows councils to ask government for specific changes to national policy to improve life in local areas.

Waltham Forest Council has also called for discounts on local business rates, legislation to make it easier to seize abandoned land and a shortening of the time it takes to deal with planning enforcement notices.

The LGA will now select which proposals to take forward to the Government.