The consultation will “gather the views of stakeholders on the value and future of a national youth council, the young ambassador programme and the role of youth voice and influence in the political infrastructure,” according to the NYA.
The project will involve a mix of focus groups with young people, group discussions and interviews with key stakeholders and an online survey expected to launch next month (November).
Experts are urging young people to sign up to take part in the first focus group activity on 23 October.
The feedback received through the consultation activities will be analysed and used to inform a recommendations report and proposal for potential funders and commissioners in March 2025.
Esther Horner Aird, deputy director of youth work at the NYA said: “It’s a privilege to be leading this work to help shape recommendations for the future era of a national youth council. The NYA feels passionately about young people being able to influence the decisions that affect their lives and to have a say on the issues that matter to them.
“Through engaging with this process, you can bring your expertise and knowledge of what a future youth council might look like and how it should be governed in order for youth voice to have impact and influence within the government.”
Youth services consultant James Cathcart, former chief executive of the BYC, said: “This process is a welcome first step in making space for creative proposals to reset and revive an official national youth council for the UK. There is an opportunity to build back better by taking account of the progress and innovations in the youth voice and influence movement in recent decades - such as exploring the power of digital to enhance representative youth voice and review alternative governance models that ensure sustainability. It’s also a good time to review and rationalise how the existing variety of youth voice vehicles in the nations, regions and localities, feed into representative national youth voice structure.”
He added that he is “particularly looking forward to hearing the insights and proposals from younger stakeholders” and called for a “parallel debate and action” on how the government will ensure they listen to any new national youth council.
The consultation programme comes after the BYC closed earlier this year after more than 75 years due to “financial challenges”.
The charity was initially set up by the Foreign Office in 1948 but became an independent charity in 1963.
It responsible for the running of the UKYP in the years leading up to its closure and was awarded a £750,000 contract to run the programme in March last year. The funding was due to run until 2025.
The NYA took over the running of the UKYP in May and is planned to oversee the youth voice body until March 2025.
- To sign up for the 23 October focus group visit: https://nya.org.uk/byc/
