Participation News, Issue One, January 2007

Policy

Under Section 6 of the Education and Inspections Act, local authorities are required from 8 January 2007 to provide positive activities for young people and to take account of young people’s views on activities and facilities. A summary by The NYA and links to Statutory guidance are available. Read the Act.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, joined ministers from across government at the Stowe Youth Centre in Westminster on 9 January to launch a discussion paper entitled Policy Review of Children and Young People. It sets out evidence gathered during the first stage of the review, identifying the challenges young people face, the next areas the review will examine to inform the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review and the government's forthcoming Ten-Year Youth Strategy. More information

Young people who participated in The NYA's ‘Cutting the Cake’ dialogue event with government officials about their spending priorities on things to do and places to go were present at the launch. The key finding was that, for young people on the edge and excluded, support from skilled workers was more important than activities and access. More information

The government is seeking the views of young people under 18 in England about their rights. The online survey will run until 31 January, and the results will be included in the government’s next children’s rights report to the United Nations. Go to survey

An analysis by NFER looks at the content of 75 children and young people’s plans (CYPPs) and contribution to the five ECM outcomes. In terms of participation, the study found that ‘there were many examples of LAs producing additional material around the CYPP and five ECM outcomes, written specifically for children and young people’ and that ‘such strong production values reflect an intention to be accessible and engage young people, and to encourage their participation in discussions about local service provision.’ Download Study

The Office of the Children's Commissioner for England has published a review of the first year of children and young people's plans, which concludes that many local authorities are ‘already well along the path to genuinely involving children and young people in their area in decision-making processes'. Download report

The Local Government White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities, outlines government proposals to devolve more power to local communities. It argues that ‘public services are better, local people more satisfied and communities stronger if involvement, participation and empowerment are at the heart of public service delivery’. It commits the government to creating ‘a stronger legal framework to require local authorities and other best value authorities to secure the participation of local citizens and communities.’ Download report

Practice

The NYA has added a new section to its web site to illustrate examples of practice in the implementation of the Youth Capital Fund and Youth Opportunities Fund, which involve young people in making decisions about local provision. More information

Eight groups of young people from across the UK have won Philip Lawrence Awards for outstanding achievements in citizenship. Their activities included developing a BMX track and youth shelter, campaigning on safe drinking, educating other young people about teenage parenthood, using music and creative arts to promote positive messages and representing young people with learning difficulties. More information on 2006 winners

Four organisations have received the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services’ Young Partners Award, which celebrate young people’s involvement in decision-making within voluntary and community youth organisations and projects. The winning projects are Barnardos North East, Sussex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Young People’s Committee, Woolacombe Beach Safety and Awareness Programme and Centrepoint Youth Educators Programme. Read press release

Research

A study by NFER, based on five local authority case studies, explores how local authorities are engaging with children and young people and using the What’s Changed tool to record and evaluate change. The study, Engaging Young People in Local Democracy, was funded by LGA and carried out in collaboration with The NYA.
Further Information

Funding and Awards

The Deutsche Bank Spotlight Awards is inviting nominations from or for young campaigners aged 11 to 18 who have taken practical action in their communities. There are five prizes of £1,000 for winners, plus more prizes for finalists and semi-finalists. The closing date is 2 February 2007. More information and online nominations

The current round of the HELP Yourselves Award Schemes created by Save the Children and British Gas is now open. These awards are designed to encourage the involvement of young people in dynamic and lasting community projects. Over 100 awards of up to £1,000 and a small number of grants worth up to £3,000 are available. The closing date is 23 March 2007. More information and application process

The Mediabox Fund, launched in December by young people’s minister Beverley Hughes, will offer young people aged 13 to 19 grants of between £1,000 and £80,000 to create media projects and get their voices heard. Young people will be at the core of the Youth Media Fund at every stage, from inception to final delivery. Read press release. Register for further information

BT Community Connections is a nationwide award scheme that connects local community and voluntary groups to the internet. During 2006-07 it will make over 1,300 awards to groups that can demonstrate how a PC and internet connection will benefit their work. The closing date is 15 February 2007. More information and online application

Resources

The NYA has produced an updated version of its resource list, Involving Children and Young People – Where to find out more, intended to help those with responsibility for promoting children and young people’s involvement to identify the resources that can best help them do so. It focuses upon practical resources rather than theoretical debates about participation. Download resource list

Trust Youth, produced by a partnership of the British Youth Council, Children's Rights Alliance for England and the Governance Hub, is a guide for children and young people on what being a trustee means. It also contains some advice from young people about how to recruit young trustees. Download guide

A practice guide by Social Care Institute for Excellence, Involving Children and Young People in Developing Social Care, proposes a whole-systems approach to participation. Download Guide

A new report from Lemos & Crane calls for youth work to move from its traditional role of personal development and its government-imposed concern with diverting young people away from antisocial activities. The report, Different World: how young people can work together on human rights, citizenship, equality and creating a better society, says youth work should focus instead on ‘building awareness of risk, encouraging tolerance, supporting participation and developing leaders’. Download report

The YoMo website, which provides ideas and resources to support young people’s community participation, has been relaunched to make it simpler to use and find information. Visit the website

Save the Children has recently launched a website providing guidance and tools to increase pupil participation in schools. Visit the website

An evaluation of the second phase of the Community Development Foundation’s Neighbourhood Support Fund (NSF) programme is now available. It confirms the importance of community approaches to engaging young people, with most projects involving young people in the wider life of the organisation with positive results. Two publications are available, Re-engaging young people - the final evaluation report, and Our Kids, Our Communities - a practical guide based on four case studies.
More information

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2007 – taking place on 27 January – is ‘The Dignity of Difference’. A range of resources, including an activities pack and a paper giving the background to the chosen theme, is available on the trust’s website.
Download resources

A report by IPSOS Mori on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government, Ingredients for Community Engagement: The Civic Pioneer Experience, examines how a number of Civic Pioneer Authorities have developed approaches to engaging local people in shaping public policies and services. The aim is to discover the ingredients needed to successfully engage communities in local governance.
Download the report

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a framework to support the proposals set out in the Local Government White Paper published last month. Take Part learning programmes will help residents play their full part as active citizens in their communities, by providing them with the information, skills and confidence they need. More information and download framework

The NYA has published a set of case studies on disabled young people as volunteers as part of its ‘youth action and engagement’ series. The series is available as part of the Youth Action package (subscriptions cost £15 p.a. – contact The NYA Sales Department); a sample copy of the case study set may be obtained from Kerry Harrison.

The Home Office has published a research study into the relationship between gun crime, illegal drug markets, gangs and gun culture. It recommends that people working on crime reduction in communities affected by gun crime must engage with young people’s decision making processes. Download report

This is the first of The NYA’s electronic bulletin on children and young people’s participation, to be produced initially every two months. We hope that you have found it informative and useful.

If you would like to receive further bulletins please email Lisa Souter with ‘subscribe’ in the subject line. Please note that you will not receive any further bulletins unless you respond.

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