Young people to have their say about how they influence county council decisions
Children and young people are set to be asked for their views on the best way for Derbyshire County Council to involve and consult with them on decisions that they make.
Derbyshire County Council Cabinet is to consider a proposal at its meeting on Thursday 16 January 2020 to carry out a consultation about changing the Derbyshire Youth Council (DYC) for more representative arrangements to increase the number of young people taking part in local democracy.
The DYC was set up in 2002 and has 36 members aged 11 to 19 voted into office by children and young people through the ‘Big Vote’ process every two years.
As well as hosting the DYC we also support a variety of other opportunities to encourage youth democracy including Locality Youth Forums, the Children in Care Council, School Councils, the Care Leavers’ Council and countywide locality youth forums.
An independent review of these groups carried out in 2018 identified that they were all valued by young people, but that a significant proportion of available staff time and resources was devoted to the DYC which in comparison only benefited a relatively small number of young people.
The Cabinet will consider a recommendation to carry out ‘The Big Consultation’ on a proposal for the DYC to be disbanded and replaced with a strategic network developed around the current School Council and other structures.
If Cabinet agrees to approve the consultation it would run for 12 weeks from Friday 24 January 2020 to Friday 17 April 2020 and gather views from:
- children and young people
- schools
- voluntary organisations
- youth service providers
- councillors
- children’s services managers and staff
Councillor Alex Dale, Cabinet Member for Young People, said: “We are committed to involving young people in our decision-making processes for a variety of reasons including the opportunities for them to learn about democracy and to help us plan services and make the best use of our resources by listening to what they have to say.”
“Young people have told us that the DYC is a great way to discuss relevant issues and make a difference, but they also raised concerns that it was not always representative and only allowed for a small number of young people to be involved and benefit from the experience.”
“That’s why we’re asking Cabinet to consider approving a consultation around a proposal which would focus resources on supporting opportunities young people think would enable and encourage more of them to get involved in local democracy and influence our decision-making process.”
Representatives from the DYC and some schools took part in an initial consultation to help shape the consultation options. The feedback was that it was ‘great to be part of the DYC’ but it was only available for a few young people and funding should be used to enable more young people to be involved in council decisions and that existing groups could be developed using technology to improve communication and connections between them.
And the issues young people were most interested in included:
- the council’s long-term plans and how it is meeting its environmental responsibilities
- how budgets are spent
- the quality of schools and services
- equality and diversity
Current DYC members were due to end their two-year term in office in March 2020 but that would be extended for a further year while proposals for possible future arrangements were considered.
Derbyshire county council are committed to involving young people in local democracy and decision-making and this is supported by legislation including the Children Act 1989, the Education Act 2002 and the Health and Social Care Act 2001.
