Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

The Chair invited Members to declare at this point any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda. No Members declared any interests.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Young People’s Working Group held on 13 July 2006.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Young People’s Working Group held on 13 July 2006 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Group’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Tuesday, 24 October at 10:00 am.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides the Group with an update on the work undertaken by the Champion and recommends that they request further information on certain aspects of the Council’s work in this area.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the work undertaken by the Children and Young People’s Champion and gave recommendations that they requested further information on certain aspects of the Council’s work in this area. The Officer highlighted an error in the report in paragraph 2 that Galtres School should not have been included in the lsit.

The Voice and Influence Coordinator summed up the report and stated that young people had voiced that they would like more of the following:-

• Things to do and places to go
• Discounts on leisure and travel
• Relationship between Young People and the Police

The Officer said she had a meeting next week and it looked like they were making progress regarding travel costs for young people and had probably found a way forward regarding this. They were also looking into whether the YoZone Card could be extended to 16 and 17 year olds and could be better advertised and easier to obtain.

The Officer commented that the issues surrounding ‘Why young people get a ‘bad press’ in the community’ (point 9 in the report) were very realistic. It was hoped that an upcoming awards ceremony on 29 November 2006 would go someway to showing young people in a positive light and recognising their contribution to communities.

The Children and Young People’s Champion spoke to Members regarding his recent visits to various schools in York. He had attended ‘Speak Out’ and The Young People’s Question Time. He reported that many common themes were raised by the young people in the schools that he had visited such as access to drinking water, condition of school toilets, lack of soap and toilet paper, and cleanliness of the toilet blocks in general. Young people had also said that they would like more information about gap year provision.

The Children and Young People’s Champion commented on the different approaches individual schools had taken to his visit and commented that some were more welcoming than others. He mentioned that he was now approaching the next stage of visits and was in the process of setting up new appointments; especially with Primary Schools.

At this point Councillor Vassie joined the meeting.

The Children and Young People’s Champion indicated that young people thought that communication was a significant problem. There were plans to set up a website but this had now been put back but it was hoped that web links would be in place by April 2007. He also mentioned that during the ‘Speak Out’ it was hard to differentiate between the voice of the young people and the of the voice of those that worked with young people.

The Children and Young People’s Champion raised the fact that young people were keen to have a dedicated Housing Officer who was very sympathetic and could help them at all stages of housing applications.

Members discussed that the report did not say how many of the issues would be dealt with and there were only a few recommendations. They  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

This report provides an update on the mapping exercise undertaken by the Involvement group in relation to the Hear By Right standards and the priorities highlighted by the group for action for the next year.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the mapping exercise undertaken by the Involvement Group in relation to the Hear By Right standards adopted by the Council.

Members discussed the summary of Action Points and said that the wording in Paragraph three, bullet point six of the report was supposed to have been changed from ‘newly elected’ to elected. The Officer acknowledged this.

RESOLVED: That the priorities for action be agreed.

REASON:      In order to take forward voice and influence work with children and young people.

This report outlines the consultation process being undertaken with children and young people to inform the Children and Young People’s Plan 2007–10.

Members considered a report which outlined the consultation process being undertaken with children and young people to inform the Children and Young People’s Plan 2007-2010.

The Children’s Fund Programme Manager commented that he had received 600 postcards back form the consultation. He also stated that every consultation that had happened in the past three years had now been documented.

Members commented that the issues surrounding access to drinking water in schools were relevant to the Healthy Living part of this consultation.

RESOLVED: That the work undertaken, through the Yor-OK Trust, to ascertain the views of children, young people and families to develop the Children and Young People’s Plan be noted.

REASON:      In order that the experiences of children, young people and families can continue to influence planning of services for children and young people.