The National Youth Agency - Question Time Event Feedback

Question Time Event Feedback

This network will value, support, and encourage research led by young people. It will empower young people and raise their voice and influence on matters that affect their lives.

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Also of interest...

Question Time with the Young Researcher Network

Key messages from the YRN Question Time Event:

Keep control of your research
Find yourself a champion to fight for you on the inside!
Attend council meetings and press your case to councilors

50% of the audience said bullying was a key issue affecting young people lives in Leicester.

Nearly 100% of the audience felt that using youth councils and parliaments in Leicester were not an effective ways to communicate to policy makers.

Shelia Lock Leicester’s Interim Chief Executive pledged to act as young people champion in Leicester

“Research is becoming more critical to how we spend shrinking resources.”
Shelia Lock interim chief executive at Leicester City Council

The Question Time Event was a big hit!

Everyone enjoyed the event very much and got a lot out of it. While the event was under-represented by YRN network partners (England wide), young people from Leicester Youth Service came out in mass and led a lively, informed and on occasion heated debate on local and national issues affecting young people and doing research.

Chairing the event was Heather Stevens, Director of Programmes at The National Youth Agency, and on the panel acting chief executive of Leicester City Council Shelia Lock, Youth work consultant and historian Bernard Davies and Paul Amann, Lifelong Learning Manager with Liverpool City Council.

Without doubt, the audience of young people demonstrated their commitment and determination to influence and create change for young people in the city of Leicester. The event gave them the opportunity to start making connections with their own research interests and social policy and to put their questions to the influential panel. The panel gave them helpful advice on getting their messages from research heard and strong encouragement to enlist the help of councilors and other public officials.

Young people identified key issues facing them including:

transport,
community cohesion,
black history and racist bullying in schools,
homelessness,
knife and gun crime,
drugs and,
misrepresentation of young people.

The young people also discussed their own mixed experiences of dealing with authorities, several complaining of a lack of feedback when they had done hard work to research opinions among their peers.

The panellists’ final thoughts:

Sheila Lock urged young people to keep coming up with evidence from their communities to inform policy as good research becomes more critical as resource allocation get tighter. She also called on DCSs to act as champions for young peoples issues, recognizing that to get it right for young people is critical to the success of authorities.
Bernard Davies commented that it was important not to assume research on its own will change anything and needs to be followed with broad political activity.
Paul Amann urged more young people to get involved in LAC public meetings (look at your local authority website for times of meeting, etc). In order to influence council officers you first need to influence councilors. A public meeting is the best forum to make your impact and get your messages from research heard.

Further Information

For more information please download the YRN Question Time Event Briefing which summarises the main questions and answers from the day.

Question Time event Factsheet

Next Question Time Event

The question time event repeats in July 2008. The platform for change workshop will ask how research can make a difference. Details of this forthcoming event will be posted online, or sign up to recieve the YRN e-newsletter and be kept up to date with events and news directly.