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 standing interest as an employee of a school in North Yorkshire and a member of the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

No other interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2010.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the Young People’s Working Group held on 21 July 2010 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. The deadline for registering is 5:00 pm on Friday 15 October.

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

This report allows members of the Young People’s Working Group (YPWG) the opportunity to reflect further on the first year’s operation of the York Youth Council and, in particular, on the first Festival of Youth last summer.

Members received a report reflecting on the operation of the York Youth Council and the first Festival of Youth, which took place last summer.

Youth Council

Discussion on the operation of the Youth Council took place around several issues including;

·        The number of schools involved, in particular the remaining ones who did not have representation.

·        Strategies and policies used to examine what were the most important issues for the Youth Council to look at.

·        The current levels of funding for the City Centre Youth Café and the significance of investment from Ward Committees.

·        The importance of the location of the Youth Café in the City Centre for transport links.

The Chair spoke about her attendance at the last Youth Council meeting and expressed her delight in its operation.

Officers informed Members that a grant of £20,000 had recently been received from the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, to help with the establishment of the Youth Café.

It was noted that funding for the Youth Council had been limited from some Ward Committees, but this was not the case for all. However, it was also noted that issues affecting young people had been discussed at all Ward Committee meetings.

Festival of Youth

Representatives from the Youth Council informed Members that although the first Festival of Youth had been a success and  they had enjoyed organising it, several lessons had been learnt for the future including;

• The possible relocation from Rowntree Park to a site in the City Centre, such as Museum Gardens.
• That audience numbers had been mixed, however, there were young people who attended on both days.
• There was a need for additional and clear signage, if there was another festival, as performances took place in various locations across the park.

The recent York Food Festival had included a Youth Stage during its evening hours of operation. Officers suggested that if funding could not be secured for a future Festival of Youth,  links to other festivals could enable it to  continue next year. The Council’s Festival team already had links to the Youth Council, having previously advised them on issues relating to the organisation of the Festival.

RESOLVED:           (i) That the comments from the representatives of the York Youth Council be noted.

(ii)               That the Members of the Young People’s Working Group continue to support the development of the Youth Council and its activities.

REASON:                              To ensure the views of young people are taken into account in Council decision-making.     

This report invites members of the Young People’s Working Group (YPWG) to review young people’s involvement in decision-making processes in the City of York, and to debate possible future developments.  It will be supplemented by an oral presentation. In particular we will be inviting members to discuss the idea of “change champions”, as an evolution of the ideas debated at previous meetings of YPWG.

Members received a report which invited them to review young people’s involvement in decision making processes in the City of York and to debate possible future developments. They also received an oral presentation from  representatives of the Youth Council in relation to this.

Officers expanded on the idea of Change Champions, which had been presented at the last meeting of the Young People’s Working Group in July.

Members questioned various aspects of the report and the presentation including;

• Who would be involved as Change Champions.
• How would this work in parallel with the Schools Councils Conferences.
• That it would be better to trial the idea on a locality basis for the first year, before developing ideas for the future.

Officers highlighted that the definition of a Change Champion was a fluid one, and all those involved in activities with young people could be referred to in this way. It was noted that funding for a pilot scheme for young people’s involvement in decision making was secure for the current year, but that this could be subject to future financial considerations.

RESOLVED:             (i)            That the report be noted.

(ii)               That the Young People’s Working Group supports the notion of “Change Champions” as a means of bringing together young people of all ages with decision makers and elected members.

REASON:                              To ensure the views of young people are taken into account in Council decision making.

This report invites members of the Young People’s Working Group to have exploratory discussions with representatives from the Youth Council about how to enable disabled young people to share their views and concerns with Members. The Junior A Team will also give an informal presentation and invite discussion about their proposal. 

Members received a report from the Head of Integrated Services for Disabled Children, which invited them to have exploratory discussions with representatives from the Youth Council about how to enable disabled young people to share their views and concerns with Members. A representative of the Junior A (Access) Team also was present and gave an informal presentation.

Members were informed of the roles of Officers in working with disabled young people in York and the reasons for the creation of the Junior A Team.

A representative of the Junior A Team informed Members how he enjoyed the activities on offer at the Choose 2 Youth Club in Fulford because they were so varied.

Some Members suggested that perhaps the links between the young people involved in the Junior A Team and the Council could be improved through more Member participation in engagement at meetings of the Team. The attendance of a smaller number of Members would be more beneficial, because it was felt that it would offer the young people more opportunities to speak and would create a more informal atmosphere.

RESOLVED:             (i)            That the report be noted.

(ii)               That the Young People’s Working Group support the role of the A Team, engaging with them four to five times a year.

(iii)That Member attendance at the meetings of the Junior A Team be investigated.

REASON:                              To ensure the views of disabled young people are taken into account in Council decision making.

This item will be presented to the Young People’s Working Group orally, and as such there are no associated papers with the item.

Members of the Young People’s Working Group and representatives from the Youth Council took part in a discussion regarding the challenges to offset negative media images of young people.

Discussion focused on several issues including;

• The need for a film and a talk exploring young people’s issues in York to be commercially viable for venues to show.
• The possible links that could be made between the Youth Council and the Older People’s Assembly.
• The role of volunteering in counteracting negative images held of young people and in boosting self esteem.