Participation: Young advisers

As part of Every Child Matters the Government says that young peopleshould be engaged in a way that allows them to make a positivecontribution to their community. The aim is to give children the chanceto have their say on policies that affect them. According to ministersthis can be done through simple polls in schools and youth clubs orconsultations through web sites and workshops.

The Department for Education and Skills, now replaced by the Departmentfor Children, Schools and Families, established its own Children andYouth Board to give young people a voice, and it has just entered itsthird year. Parmjit Dhanda, children, young people and families ministeruntil the recent Cabinet reshuffle, says: "I always look forward tomeeting the board and listening to what they have to say - and theycertainly have an impact. For example, previous boards have beeninstrumental in the appointment of the first children's commissioner forEngland and they have helped with the development of the Youth Mattersproposals."

Other bodies are also setting up young people's boards or councils,including many local authorities.

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) hasa newly appointed young people's board. Christine Smart, children'sright's director for Cafcass, says the board is "absolutely critical" inhelping improve quality of service and writing policies.

The key to these boards is to let young people have their say. As Dhandasays: "What we really want is to improve the lives of children, so itmakes sense that we listen to what they have to say on the issues thataffect them. After all they are best placed to tell us what they wantand need."

Here Children Now looks at three children and young people's boards andasks the members what difference they think they're making.

Department for Children, Schools and Families
Children and Youth Board
VITAL STATISTICS
Number of members: 25
Male to female ratio: 10 male, 15 female
Ethnic minority members: Eight
Age of members: Nine to 18
Frequency of meetings: Six meetings a year
Where members live: South West, South East, London, East of England,
West Midlands, East Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside and
North East
Length of membership: One year

Members of this year's Department for Children, Schools and FamiliesChildren and Youth Board met for the first time at the beginning of thismonth. Their aim is to provide Government ministers with advice onissues that affect children and young people. They will hold threeresidential meetings throughout the year, plus three with ministers.

Andy McGowan, a young carer, was a board member for a year when he was16 and 17. He spent time working on the Youth Matters consultation andattended the launch, asking questions of children's minister BeverleyHughes.

One of his roles was, along with other board members, to write theintroduction of the paper and make it more young people friendly. Hefeels the people on the board, who make recommendations to ministers andofficials at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, have animportant role to play in the country over the next decade.

"In ten years we're going to be the society of tomorrow. It really isthe young people that decisions are going to affect," he says.

"The department didn't just meet with us once, we met with directors andBeverley Hughes on numerous occasions. She was the one who set up theboard. She showed that she didn't want to run the board. She had a youngperson chair the board."

Andy, now 19, adds: "It's a really good opportunity for young people toget involved."

So far the board has played a part in appointing the first children'scommissioner for England and discussing how to improve school behaviourand tackle anti-social behaviour.

Thomas Bielby, 16, has just been appointed to the new board for 2007/08and is hoping the ministers and officials they meet will take themseriously.

He says: "I would like to think that they wouldn't talk down to us andsee us as strong characters and that we know what we want. I want themto treat us like adults. I hope they respect our efforts."

Although he has no specific projects that he would like to work on oraims for the board, he sees being a member as an opportunity to meetfriends and have an impact on important decisions.

"I would like to achieve something good that has a great effect," saysThomas.

"It's going to be a challenge, it's something really different to what Iam used to. It's putting me out of my comfort zone and I hope to befaced with lots of different things."

CAFCASS YOUNG PEOPLE'S BOARD
VITAL STATISTICS
Number of members: 17
Male to female ratio: Four male, 13 female
Ethnic minority members: Four
Age of members: 13 to 19
Frequency of meetings: Every two months
Where members live: South West, South East, London, North East, East
Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside
Length of membership: Two years

The role of the young people's board at the Children and Family CourtAdvisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is to champion children's rightswithin the organisation.

Since being set up in August 2006 the board has worked hard to get theviews of children listened to by the people making decisions in familylaw cases.

Board member Jasmin Bailey, 16, says: "We represent children and youngpeople who have been through parental separation or taken into care by alocal authority. We try to improve the service they rely on."

Jasmin and fellow board member Rebecca Musgrove, 15, have played a vitalrole in helping to establish My Needs, Wishes and Feelings. This is away for children to get their views across to people involved in theirfamily law cases and helps them express their views in a way tailored tosuit their age. "We have given it to child practitioners to use as atool when they work with young people," explains Jasmin. The board,which meets once every two months, has also had an input into Governmentconsultations on transparency in courts and children in care.

Being a member of the board means the young people get to go toconferences around the country where they can also share theirviews.

The recommendations of the board are given to Christine Smart, theorganisation's children's rights director, who attends the group'sformal meetings. She then reports back to the group on the work Cafcasshas done to take their views into account.

Jasmin says: "When we go to residential meetings over a weekend then weget to see stuff we have discussed before and get told what's going tohappen." Rebecca adds: "We get really good feedback. We get e-mailsbetween meetings that inform us what's going on."

Both girls feel the board has made a real difference to the work ofCafcass. "I wouldn't do it if we weren't taken seriously," says Jasmin."It's the way that they listen to us. Being a 16-year-old girl you don'tget many people who would listen to your voice. They need someone whohas been through it themselves."

Rebecca adds: "It's a good idea because Cafcass is constantly gettingfeedback from people on the system and how it works. The board can helpit improve its service and make sure children get the best out ofit."

BARNSLEY YOUTH COUNCIL
VITAL STATISTICS
Number of members: 32
Male to female ratio: 16 male, 16 female
Ethnic minority members: Four
Age of members: 13 to 17, apart from two members who are 20 and 24
Frequency of meetings: Every two weeks
Where members live: There are members from each of the nine areas of
Barnsley
Length of membership: Elections are held yearly

Barnsley Youth Council ensures the views of the town's young people areheard by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

The group works with young people in the area, discusses their views atfull youth council meetings and then makes recommendations to thecouncil's cabinet and scrutiny committee.

Each year members campaign for votes and are elected by young peopleacross Barnsley. They meet every two weeks for a full council meeting atBarnsley town hall, which lasts around two hours and can includepresentations, guest speakers and training.

Shari Tindle, 16, is the chair of the youth council. She says: "We do alot of work in the community. We've done lots of events and we'regetting young people involved with stuff that goes on in thecommunity.

"We go out in our local areas to speak and we get points from youngpeople in the area and bring them back to the council meeting where theyare discussed. We have done presentations to the council cabinet and hadfeedback from them and put their points into practice."

Shari, who was re-elected to the council in March, says they are workingon a range of topics, including carrying out transport service andsexual health questionnaires, as well as discussing graffiti andtransport for disabled young people. A working group has also been setup to improve the Barnsley Youth Council web site.

Shari adds: "We did a presentation to the Barnsley Foundation HospitalTrust about sexual health and mental illness. I found it reallybeneficial, we got feedback on that when they came to us and did apresentation."

During the last year the youth council has taken part in a nationalresearch project on children's trusts carried out by the NationalChildren's Bureau, which will help shape children's trusts in thefuture.

Since the youth council was set up in 2002/03, it has contributed to anumber of important issues within the town. These include commissioningwork around changes in health services and organising a consultationevent, the findings of which are being used to shape health services foryoung people. They've also made recommendations on the council'sRemaking Barnsley consultation on changes to the town and organisedevents centred around the five Every Child Matters outcomes.

Shari believes the young people's decisions are always taken seriously:"The council is always there to support us on whatever decision we comeup with. If we want to make stronger decisions it will always supportus."