Labour must youth-proof all policies, says former minister
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
A senior Labour politician has called on the party to prioritise youth work and youth engagement ahead of the next general election.
Speaking at a fringe event at Labour’s annual conference in Brighton, Vernon Coaker, a former schools minister under the previous government, said his party should make young people integral to its election campaign.
“I think there is a real opportunity for the Labour party to grasp this [the youth agenda] and say it is not going to be a marginal issue for us,” Coaker said.
“If the party said we will make this a major part of a future Labour government in every single area of policy, what an inspiring thing that would be.
“We need to say that young people are at the centre of what we do, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because if we do that we will get better policy and better outcomes.“
Last year, Labour announced that it plans to make youth services statutory if it gains power at the next election.
A policy review on youth services that includes looking at the case for locating youth clubs in schools is also under way.
Coaker was speaking at an event hosted by charity Kids Count that looked at the role communities and young people can play with police and crime commissioners (PCCs).
Paddy Tipping, PCC for Nottinghamshire, said it is vital that young people are consulted to improve policing, but said that while some efforts by PCCs to engage with young people had been good, others had been “a fiasco”.
“I have been working with youth councils and three schools in particular so young people can share any issues they have and give me guidance. Young people are bringing issues to us and we are trying hard to make changes.”
But Labour PCC for Bedfordshire Olly Martins, a delegate at the event, warned that Labour is not “supporting and getting behind PCCs”.
“Yes, we want a Labour government that will stop the decimation of police budgets and the decimation of youth services, but in the interim we have Labour PCCs making a difference on the ground, coming up with mentoring initiatives and getting to grips with the small percentage of young people involved in criminality,” Martins added.
Another delegate at the event, a teacher, called for compulsory training for police in working with young people.
“There needs to be training in de-escalation and awareness of aggression cycles,” she said.