CYP Now - Youth Service Statutory Guidance – 'Nothing about us without us'

As someone who campaigns for greater young participation in public life because I believe and have seen how it can add value to decisions made about them, I’ve always welcomed any legislation and guidance that says an authority ‘must take steps to ascertain the views of young people’ but saddened when its only ‘should establish and maintain structured arrangements for doing so’.

It’s a credit to the work of so many councillors, youth workers, advocates and young leaders that so many do still try to implement this guidance for ‘Local Authorities on Services and Activities to Improve Young People’s Well-being’.

The Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport is reviewing this guidance and, despite the General Election, it is still open to written submissions to young people as well as councils and others. However, some review activities have been postponed. In response to an enquiry from Young Voices Heard the DCMS Guidance Team have confirmed that:

“The call for evidence is still live and closes at 11:45pm on Sunday 1st December. Due to the election and rules around the pre-election period, we won't be able to hold any face-to-face consultation events, including with young people unfortunately. We will be considering our options though for post the election period to see if this may still be possible but at a later date.”

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included