Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“Relevant Background Information

 

      On 15th June 2005 the Community and Recreation Committee agreed to the establishment of a Youth Forum for Belfast City Council.  Since then a Children and Young People Coordinator was appointed on a fixed term contract and the Youth Forum has been established.

 

      The Youth Forum consists of 36 young people from13-18 years old from across the City.  The Forum is split into issue based sub groups as directed by the young people themselves and have looked at issues including mental health, suicide, drugs and alcohol, anti social behaviour, facilities and youth provision.

 

      The BelfastCity Council Youth Forum is recognised locally and nationally in both GB and the Republic of Ireland, as a model of best practice and Belfast City Council is regularly commended on this work.

 

      Members will be aware that in June 2005 it was agreed that after the initial two years term in office, a review of the Youth Forum would be carried out.  At its meeting of 12 December 2007, Committee agreed to extend the term in office of the current Youth Forum until April 08 in order to facilitate the conclusion of this review and the subsequent report to Committee.

 

      The purpose of this report is to give members details of the review as well as to make recommendations on the future of the BCC Youth Forum.

 

Key Issues

 

      Members will be aware of the background to the work of the BCC YF from previous committee reports.  A short video will be shown which documents some of the work of the Youth Forum.

 

      Youth Forum Review Synopsis

 

      The Youth Forum review was carried out independently by Justice Associates in order to define:

 

-     current role of the Youth Forum in Council.

-     resources provided / needed to support the forum.

-     governance arrangements

-     practice to date

-     the future role of the Youth Forum within the Development Department and the Council

 

      The review focused on the following specific objectives

 

-     review the need for the forum and the policy context within which it operates

-     review the achievements of the forum to date

-     review the effectiveness of the processes and systems used to:

 

1.   recruit young people to ensure that the forum is representative of young people in Belfast in terms of age, gender, religion, location.

2.   select topics for discussion

3.   engage with other young people who are not on the forum

4.   engage with Councillors, Council officers, Youth champions etc.

5.   support the young people on the forum

6.   conduct meetings

 

-     review of resources needed to support the forum

-     identify best practice models for Youth engagement that are being used by other organisations in other cities.

-     based on best practice models make recommendations for the Council on the ways of improving the Youth Forum.

 

      Approach

 

      The report offers insight into the policy context & background of the Youth Forum highlighting Section 75 legislation, the UNCRC, Best Value Legislation, and other policy documents which outline the duty to involve young people in decision making and policy development.

 

      The review also details some of the work of the YF and outlines the methodology adopted for data collection which included obtaining feedback from Youth Forum members; the BCC interdepartmental group for children and young people (CHYPs); the Joint Youth Panel (external stakeholders) and the Youth Champions (elected members).

 

      The report finishes with conclusions and recommendations.

 

      Key issues from the report:

 

      The review is generally very positive. It highlights that as a model the Belfast City Council Forum is a good way of involving young people in public decision making. Feedback from respondents overwhelmingly reflects this view.

 

      The review also highlights the continuing development of the Youth Forum, and details how ongoing monitoring and evaluation has led to visible positive improvements in the way the Youth Forum approaches its work.

 

      Representation:

 

      Representation of any such structure is always scrutinised.  In the case of the Belfast City Council Youth Forum the report highlights that the method of recruitment is satisfactory and as a result representation is good. The report notes balanced representation in terms of age, gender, geography, religion and section 75 groups. The report points to a perception in some quarters that the Youth Forum is made up of an ‘elite’ group of young people.  Given the contrary evidence, the evaluators suggest there ‘might be merit in devising a suitable mechanism for recording the make-up of the membership in order to better combat any impression of exclusiveness or elitism.’

 

      Member turnover:

 

      Young people are a transient group: the pressures of adolescence coupled with factors such as family life, studies, relationships, extra curricular interests or more serious personal issues can impact on levels of drop out in all youth participation structures.

 

      In the case of the BCC Youth Forum, turnover was noted as satisfactory, and the review considered that systems in place to combat this are good.

 

      Impact on policies:

 

      The report also discusses the Forum’s impact on policies, and suggests that it can be difficult to recognise the impact young people’s views have on policy making, particularly in a large local authority like Belfast City Council as it can be complex and slow?moving process.  The consultants however point to evidence which demonstrates how the Youth Forum has engaged with a wide range of Council Departments and Units in the design and delivery of initiatives.  They argue such engagement influences the policy at the correct stage, at the time of its development, but note this is difficult to measure.

 

      Furthermore the review recognises that the long term significance of the Youth Forum also relates to organisational culture. It suggests that if it is accepted that young people should be consulted about any policy or action that affects them; and that their views are taken into account in the decision-making process; then the Youth Forum will invariably impact on these outcomes. This therefore highlights the importance that the culture of engaging with young people becomes embedded in the Council’s processes.

 

      They commend the plans for further development in relation to this internally, such as training for officers in youth participation, and mechanisms to monitor and evaluate consultations with the Youth Forum in relation to outcomes.

 

      They further welcome the planned development of a communications plan for the Youth Forum in order to better inform elected members, officers, other young people, and the general public on the work of the Youth Forum and vice versa.

 

      Youth Champions:

 

      The review highlights the importance of the Youth Champions and the role they have played in the success of the Youth Forum. The Youth Champions provide a vital link between the work of the young people and that of elected members. Engagement between young people and elected members has been a hugely positive part of the Youth Forum, with meetings involving these groupings being seen as one of the Youth Forum’s great strengths.

 

      This aspect of the Youth Forum has helped promote the BCC Youth Forum as a model of good practice and other models have attempted to, or have made plans to follow suit, nationally and internationally.

 

      The review recommends the continuation of the BCC Youth Forum with young people outlining their preferred method for the selection process for a second term in office.

 

      Value for Money:

 

      Justice Associates have highlighted that to assess this properly they would need to carry out a SMART assessment; but have said that for an organisation of BCC’s size the budget is satisfactory value for money and note the project is ‘well resourced’.

 

      Overall conclusion

 

      The conclusion details how the Belfast City Council Youth Forum is a uniquely valuable contribution to the decision making process of the Belfast City Council. The review also highlights areas for improvement, some of which are already underway.

 

      The review highlights how the first two years of work has provided a solid basis on which to continue to develop the Belfast City Council Youth Forum.

 

      Justice Associates commend Belfast City Council on the Youth Forum and recommend that the Forum continues.   

 

Resource Implications

 

      Financial

 

      There are no additional financial implications outside revenue estimates.

 

      Human Resources

 

      The post of the Children and Young People Coordinator is currently fixed term and runs until August 2008.  The post is being considered within the current structural review of the service.

 

Recommendations

 

      Committee are asked to support the following recommendations from the independent review of the Youth Forum:

 

1.   BCC develop a corporate strategy for Children and Young People and this strategy provides a framework for the Youth Forum and the work of the Joint Youth Panel.

2.   The BCC Youth Forum continues to operate for a further term of two years and that re-elections take place during May / June 2008.

3.   The proposals on the selection process as outlined by the Youth Forum are adopted.

4.   The post of C&YP Co-ordinator is reviewed.

5.   Consideration is given to the adoption of the concept of ‘senior member’ or ‘volunteer youth leader’ in order to harness the knowledge and experience of young people who have gone through the system and to offer support to the BCC officer.

6.   The development of a comprehensive Communications & Engagement strategy.

7.   The value of young people’s participation in grant assessment to be considered within the context of the department grant review.

 

Key to Abbreviations

 

YF:          Belfast City Council Youth Forum

UNCRC:United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

CHYPs:   BCC Interdepartmental Group for Children & Young People”

 

            The Director paid tribute to those Councillors who had acted as Youth Champions and drew the Committee’s attention to various aspects of the report. 

 

            During discussion in the matter, a Member pointed out that, since the original members of the Youth Forum had been interviewed and appointed rather than elected, recommendation 2 would require to be amended to indicate that the members of the Forum would be elected, rather than re-elected.  He pointed out further that it would be necessary to ensure that the Forum was representative of the entire City.  Another Member requested that the Department endeavour to ensure that children with disabilities were more involved with the Youth Forum than was the case currently.

 

            In response, the Director undertook to ensure that the Members’ comments were taken on board.

 

            Following further discussion, the Committee agreed to adopt the recommendations contained within the foregoing report, subject to recommendation 2 being amended to indicate that elections, rather than re-elections, to the Youth Forum would take place during May/June.