Youth participation bodies seek more influence

The involvement of young people in the decisions that affect them forms a central plank of the government’s approach to youth services.

But although last year’s Positive for Youth statement urged councils to listen to young people’s voices, the way in which local areas actually set up systems to achieve this varies widely.

In a bid to gain a better under­standing of how participation is developing across the country, the British Youth Council (BYC) carried out a study to scrutinise whether councils’ youth participation bodies are representative, accountable, influential and independent.

Based on 70 in-depth responses, it found that 94 per cent of local authorities have processes in place to make sure their participation work is representative of the local youth population, while 86 per cent said participation has had a positive impact on policies and services for young people in their area.