Agenda item

This report provides an update to Policy and Oversight Board on recent developments to strengthen the reach and impact of youth voice in Hammersmith & Fulham. It explains the approach adopted by the Youth Council (with support from officers and community partners) to research, define, and action the priorities of our young people on their key areas of focus:

·      Inclusion

·      Mental health and emotional wellbeing

·      Life skills (preparation for adulthood)

·      Staying safe

·      Work experience and work readiness

The report also outlines progress to date and next steps.

Brenda Whinnett (Youth Voice Coordinator) introduced the item that covered recent developments to strengthen the reach and impact of youth voice in Hammersmith & Fulham.

Brenda was joined by Anastasia, the borough’s Member of Youth Parliament, and Youth Councillors Ealaf, Precisa, Adam, and Ellaria. They discussed the work they’d undertaken during the year with officers and partners to research, define, and action the priorities of young people on the following areas of focus:

• Inclusion
• Mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Life skills (preparation for adulthood)
• Staying safe
• Work experience and work readiness.

Councillor Nikos Souslous asked about young people’s fear or lack of trust in the police and what could be done to improve it. Anastasia said the Youth Council held a workshop with young people and the police to help build trust and they wanted to do more in future.

Councillor Rory Vaughan asked how the Youth Council identified their priority areas, how they communicated their work to young people, and how they judged if their initiatives were successful. Anastasia said there had been youth elections in March 2022 and candidates ran on a range of issues. Once elected, they had produced a video on key topics, gathered responses from young people, and then met with professionals to see where the gaps they had identified could be bridged. She noted that in many cases the services were there, but young people didn’t know how to access them. Brenda Whinnett added that they always provided young people with feedback on their work. She said they had undertaken a large inclusive research project over the summer where they had spoken with over 2,000 young people to identify their needs.

Councillor Natalia Perez asked if there were any groups that were particularly hard to reach and what the main requests from young people were about.

Brenda Whinnett said they had been working more with young carers and were working with Jack Tizard School to engage non-verbal young people. To that end, they ran a youth voice art in the park session during the summer attended by Disabled young people and care experienced young people. Regarding the most common requests, she said sexual health was a focus.

Jacqui McShannon (Director of Children’s Services) said it would be helpful to involve health colleagues and look at healthy relationships and health and wellbeing more generally when procuring health services, rather than focusing purely on physical health. Members suggested this as an area for the Health and Adult Social Care Policy and Accountability to consider.

ACTION: David Abbott / Councillor Natalia Perez

Councillor Jacolyn Daly asked if housing and homelessness was one of the priorities and felt it was important to include the voices of young people in temporary accommodation given the impact on their education and wellbeing. Brenda Whinnett said it was not one of the current priorities but recognised it was an important issue and said it would be considered next year (2024).

ACTION: Brenda Whinnett

Councillor Vaughan said he welcomed feedback from the Youth Council on any issues under the remit of the Economy, Arts, Sports, and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee that had an impact on young people.

Jacqui McShannon thanked the members of the Board and said they welcomed the interest. The assigned strategic leads had been tasked with taking the areas discussed forward and would be bringing items to the relevant PACs.

ACTION: Strategic Leads / Brenda Whinnett

Councillor Vaughan asked if the Youth Council were involved with the Council’s London Borough of Culture bid. Brenda Whinnett confirmed they were already heavily involved and had fed into the bid preparation work.

The Chair asked that future Policy and Accountability Committees reports include a section to record whether the Youth Council have been involved.

ACTION: David Abbott

The Chair asked Ellaria how she had found the Youth Council as a new member. Ellaria said it had been very enjoyable, with productive discussions on important topics. Adam added that he appreciates that they were being listened to and could affect change. He highlighted the wonderful support system that Brenda Whinnett had created for them. Ealaf noted that Youth Council was structured in such a way that allowed people to contribute to the projects they were most interested in, which ensured engagement remained high and people were passionate about what they were working on.

The Chair thanked Brenda Whinnett and the Youth Council members for attending and the work they had carried out over the year. She reiterated the need to ensure strategic leads worked with the Policy and Accountability Chairs and drove progress against the priorities.

RESOLVED

1. For the Board to note and comment on the approach and progress and agree how to support the next steps.

2. For the Board to identify a link Policy and Accountability Chair to support the young people with each of their priority areas.