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.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Aspden declared a set of standing personal interests as a governor for the Danesgate Centre, Fulford’s Cross, a member of the National Union of Teachers and as an employee of North Yorkshire County Council.

Councillor Bowgett declared standing personal interests as a governor for St Paul’s Nursery school and as the parent of two children attending Millthorpe School.

Councillor Looker declared standing personal interests as a governor for Park Grove School and as the governor and Chair of Canon Lee School.

Councillor Runciman declared a set of standing personal interests as a governor of Joseph Rowntree School, New Earswick Primary School and York College alongside being a trustee of York Theatre Royal.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2009.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Young People’s Working Group, held on 22 April 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 Working 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 21 July at 5 pm.

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

This report informs Members of the Executive’s response to the recommendation made at the last meeting that the membership of the Young People’s Working Group be increased to include the Young People’s Champion. It asks Members to consider the Executive’s suggestion that the Champion be appointed as a non-voting, co-opted member of the Group.

Members considered a report which informed them of the Executive’s response to their recommendation of the appointment of the Young People’s Champion to be included  in the formal membership of the Young People’s Working Group.

Members commented that the Executive’s recommendation to make the Young People’s Champion a non voting, co-opted member, was very sensible given that the Group does not have decision making powers.

They added that they wished to add an amendment for the Executive to consider increasing the formal membership of the group to include the current Interim and Deputy Interim Member of the Youth Parliament and their successors to join the group as non voting, co-opted members.

RESOLVED:       (i) To accept the suggestion that the Young People’s Champion be appointed to the Young People’s Working Group as a non-voting, co-opted member and recommend that the Executive make this appointment.

                           (ii) That the Members of the Young People’s Working Group ask the Executive to recommend to Council that the membership of the group be increased to also include the Interim Member of the Youth Parliament(MYP) and the Deputy Interim Member of the Youth Parliament as non-voting co-opted members.

REASON:                  In order to formalise the position of the Young People’s Champion on the Working Group and to be inclusive to all views from Young People in York.

This report is for information. It describes the work being planned as part of the Take Part Pathfinder 2 programme including developments through: 

o        Ward committee processes and commissioned services;

o        Schools Councils development;

o       Creation of a Youth Council (for young people 11- 19) and, through that, involvement in the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP).

Members received a report on the work of the Take Part Pathfinder 2 programme. 

The Council had been awarded £51,000-£61,000 next year to fund three streams of the programme:

• Ward committee processes and commissioned services
• Schools Councils development
• Creation of a Youth Council(for young people aged 11-19) and, through that, involvement in the UK Youth Parliament.

In reference to paragraph 14 of the report on ward committee processes and commissioned services, additional information was given to Members about how one of the posts in the Neighbourhood Management Department will include a specific responsibility for youth engagement within ward committees. Members commented that this was a positive move and would particularly satisfy the community cohesion strand of the Strategic Plan.

Officers reiterated that the membership and structure of the Youth Council as shown in Annex A of the report will come from all secondary schools including private schools at secondary level, it will also  reach out to alternative groups such as in the voluntary sector to make sure that the Youth Council is representative.  The Take Part Pathfinder as a whole will be working with primary and secondary schools through Schools Councils.

Members  then invited the Deputy Interim Member of the Youth Parliament for York to comment on the proposals for the Youth Council within the Officer’s report and suggested that he could bring a report detailing his experiences at the Annual Meeting of the UK Youth Parliament to the next meeting to inform the development of the Youth Council.

With reference to paragraph 9 of the report Members suggested that the involvement of all schools in the City was paramount to maintain a balance of views.

RESOLVED:             (i)         That the report be noted.

(ii)        That the Deputy Interim Member of the Youth Parliament for York reports back to the group on his experiences at the annual sitting of the Youth Parliament.

REASON:                  To inform future strategic work on the development of the Take Part 2 Pathfinder, the development of a Youth Council for York and methods of communication for engagement with Young People.

This report offers Members a further brief update on the search for sites and funds to establish enhanced facilities for young people close to the city centre. Mr Phil Bixby, the architect who has been working with us on the project, will be available at the meeting to answer Members’ questions.

Members received a report on the search for site and funds to establish enhanced facilities for Young People close to the city centre was received by the group.  Mr Bixby, the architect who had been commissioned to work on the project was in attendance to answer questions from Members.

Officers reported that although York had failed in the second round of bidding for myplace funding, due to a change in the eligibility criteria from the Big Lottery Fund, that they had taken the decision to continue with the work proposed. The focus now was on two more modest sites at St Leonard’s Hospital and St Michael le Belfry, although the Railway Institute site was still in consideration. They added that there was a funding gap of £8.5 million for the Railway Institute because the Lottery money only provided a maximum of £5 million of funds.

Members received an update on the two new proposed sites. In relation to the proposal for St Leonard’s Hospital it was commented that the site lends itself to unproblematic development and that early responses to the plans have been very positive.  Members were informed that the project at St Michael le Belfry was a smaller and more immediate facility and was a joint project between the Council and the current existing youth group there.

Members suggested that both sites should be re-examined at future meetings.  They added that the Police should be consulted because they are anxious to have a positive role in facilities for Young People and that they may also have access to alternative sources of funding.

RESOLVED:             That the report be noted.

REASON:                  For additional investment in youth facilities to be in line with the Council’s corporate priorities, and the views of the residents and young people themselves.

This report provides an update of the work and activities overseen by the Young People’s Joint Commissioning Group (YPSMJCG) for the prevention and treatment of young people’s substance misuse in the city.

Members received a report on the update of work and activities overseen by the Young People’s Joint Commissioning Group for the prevention and treatment of Young People’s substance misuse in the city.

The report summarised how substance misuse is dealt with in local authorities and highlighted the organisations responsible for monitoring and funding the prevention and treatment programmes in these authorities.

The bulk of the funding for these programmes in York comes from a national charity called First Base along with contributions from the York Youth Offending Team and York College, in particular for analysis and education work.

There were currently 30 Young People in York on First Base substance misuse programmes and that there have been noticeable improvements in reduced use, safer use, better relations with family and friends and a better use of leisure time amongst these Young People.

Officers commented that there were still challenges on collecting information on substance misuse from other agencies such as the local Accident and Emergency Department.  They also added that there was still a reluctance from some schools to admit that there is a problem with substance misuse amongst Young People.  These two issues, meant that it was difficult to find out the true extent of substance misuse amongst Young People in York.

With reference to paragraphs 11 and 16 of the report comments were made on substance misuse education programmes in schools and the focus of the work force training in the education sector.

Officers responded by remarking that there is an issue in what the schools can do on top of existing programmes and that the Council does not want to diminish these. There is an aspiration for specialist substance misuse workers to work in partnerships with schools to support teachers in this area.  They also replied that the focus of workforce training related to substance misuse was geared towards those in the education sector.

Officers added that funding for the Young People’s Substance Misuse plan in York is unfortunately inhibited to use the most money on treatment rather than prevention programmes.

Referring to paragraph 14 of the report Members asked Officers for more information on what the communities mentioned in the report could be doing to tackle problems with substance misuse among Young People in their areas.

RESOLVED:             To note the report.

REASON:                  To inform future strategic work on substance misuse services for Young People in York.