A survey of 100 local authorities in England by the British Youth Council (BYC) found that 92 per cent maintain either a youth council, cabinet or forum.
In addition, 96 per cent of local authorities reported having a children in care council, while 92 per cent are linked to the UK Youth Parliament.
Over and above the most common forms of youth participation, 84 per cent of authorities said they had at least one specialist participation initiative in place.
The most popular of these specialist initiatives were forums for young disabled people, with 53 per cent of local authorities reporting that they have such a scheme in place.
Other initiatives mentioned included HealthWatch groups, anti-bullying groups, young carers' forums, commissioning groups and police youth forums.
James Cathcart, chief executive of BYC, said: “I think it is a credit to local authorities that despite cuts, they have maintained a framework that is both inclusive of elected structures and reserves places for minorities.
“This snapshot gives a nationwide picture of the state of play of participation and I would say it is in better health than was expected."
Cathcart added that the survey shows that local authorities have "a sound basis" to respond to the new local authority guidance on participation, detailed in the Positive for Youth policy document.
Youth participation forms a key plank of the government’s Positive for Youth statement, which states that every local authority should have arrangements in place to enable young people to inspect and report on the quality of services they receive.
