Consultation with Young People

For organisations working in the criminal justice field, finding out what young people really think about crime, anti-social behaviour, the police and the criminal justice system can be a challenge. The National Youth Agency can help you see the real picture, and discover the views of young people in the communities you serve.

We have a long history of working with police authorities and forces to help them consult with young people about their experiences of crime, anti-social behaviour, the police and criminal justice system. We work closely with our clients to ensure that the consultation is tailored to the organisation, the area, and to the needs of the young people taking part.

What we do

We offer a bespoke consultation process to make sure we meet the needs of individual police authorities and police forces and community safety partnerships. We can deliver large scale and high profile youth crime consultation events or small in-depth focus groups. Our consultations include young people drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds and reflect the key local Black, Asian, Minority and Ethnic Groups, as well as young people with disabilities and those deemed ‘hard to reach’, including victims of crime, offenders and those who have had the most interaction with the police and criminal justice system.

Our consultations are over-seen by enhanced CRB checked and trained National Youth Agency facilitators, with extensive experience in undertaking this work. They are led by young people, and use interactive and innovative consultation techniques to allow young people to express their views and talk candidly about their experiences and perceptions about policing and community safety themes, including:

• Contact with the police force
• Policing priorities
• Neighbourhood policing; including PCSOs and safer school officers
• Perceptions and experiences of anti social behaviour and crime
• Community safety; quality of life and fear of crime
• Stop and search
• Gang activities and street violence
• Victimisation and bullying.

As part of the service, the National Youth Agency will produce a comprehensive report with executive summary, as well as a separate summary report for young people.

Our approach

The National Youth Agency is the market leader in this field with a unique and proven record in youth crime consultation. The benefits of our approach include:

• Provides an opportunity to strengthen relationships and consultation with young people, particularly those that are hard to reach.
• Helps police authorities and community safety partnerships meet the requirement to consult annually on strategic planning processes.
• Helps prevent crime committed by young people and addresses the mainstreaming requirements of section 17, 1998 Crime and Disorder Act.
• Adaptable across the police service sector, both at a strategic level and also neighbourhood level.
• t provides support to Police and Community Safety Partnership staff, to integrate this activity into existing job roles.
• Helps provide excellent contacts with local youth organisations.

Case study

In 2007, the National Youth Agency was commissioned by West Midlands Police Authority to work with them over a three year period, to consult with young people about their perceptions and experiences of crime, anti-social behaviour, the police and criminal justice system.

The National Youth Agency developed an innovative and effective approach for engaging the young people, and introduced a robust process to gain the views of many marginalised young people in the West Midlands.

We held ten focus groups across the West Midlands region and consulted with a total of 150 young people about crime and policing. The results from this consultation were published in a report: “The Police: Your Views”.

The following year, the National Youth Agency organised a successful regional youth crime conference with over 200 delegates, on behalf of the West Midlands Police Authority, the local Criminal Justice Board and the West Midlands Police Force. The results from this event were published in the report “Listening to young people”.

In 2009, the West Midlands Police Authority commissioned the Agency to explore some of the specific issues raised by young people at the regional youth crime conference, relating to gangs and violent extremism. In late 2009, the NYA hosted three focus groups with ‘hard to reach’ young people, who had direct involvement, experience and knowledge of gangs and violent extremism. The findings from this research, “Youth Crime Consultation” have recently been published.

The Integrated Services for Young People Framework will be available from 1 July 2010. To register your interest please email the Business development team to be informed >>

Download the NYA Consultation with Young People leaflet >>