The event, chaired by CYP Now editor Ravi Chandiramani at the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham, heard serious concerns about the lack of involvement of young people in local decision-making because of the speed at which councils had to implement savings.
The demise of the youth opportunity and youth capital funds were also identified as areas that have particularly damaged young people’s trust in the decision-making process.
Chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Service David Wright told delegates that increasing young people’s participation and then suddenly taking it away has damaged trust among young people.
"We saw 10 years of increasing young people’s engagement in the political and democratic process and actually starting to make some real difference," he said. "We are seeing some dividends. But what pulled everyone up short, was in the rush to make changes the youth opportunity funds and youth capital funds got swept away because we had to make savings. The principles got lost, with young people not being involved in that decision making."
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