Meeting documents
Council
Tuesday, 16th October 2007
| Present | |
| Mayor | Councillor PN Gilchrist |
| Deputy Mayor | Councillor AER Jones |
| Councillors | RL Abbey, C Blakeley, S L Clarke, IO Coates, JR Cocker, WJ Davies, George Davies, PL Davies, FM Doyle, WA Duffey, DM Elderton, GJ Ellis, S Foulkes, L Fraser, JE Green, PJ Hackett, T Harney, D Hawkins, Karen Hayes, Paul Hayes, AC Hodson, SA Holbrook, PSC Johnson, SE Kelly, Brian Kenny, DT Knowles, IJ Mackenzie, Ann McLachlan, Mrs CM Meaden, GD Mitchell, RK Moon, IM Moon, SD Moseley, SR Mountney, A Pritchard, ED Prout, Jean Quinn, Sarah Quinn, MG Redfern, PTC Reisdorf, Mrs LA Rennie, SL Rowlands, JJ Salter, H Smith, WW Smith, PA Smith, PM Southwood, A Taylor, CM Teggin, GCJ Watt, Mrs P M Williams, Mrs K Wood |
| Apologies | A Bridson, SA Brown, G Gardiner, John George, J Hale, AT Jennings, DS Kirwan, M McLaughlin, SAM Niblock, DE Roberts, JV Stapleton, K J Williams |
| Index to Minutes | |
| Minute 45 - MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS | |
| Minute 46 - YOUTH PARLIAMENT | |
| Minute 45 - MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS | ||
| Minute Text : Before the commencement of the Youth Parliament in the Council Chamber, twelve discussion groups, each consisting of young people and councillors, had met in different parts of the Town Hall. They had been asked to consider the various aspects of the Youth Offer, and the views expressed had been noted, to be taken into account in finalising the Offer. The Mayor opened the meeting by referring to the Youth Voice Conference that had taken place earlier in the day and thanked all concerned for their participation. He described the format of the meeting and proposed that a simplified version of the rules of debate be applied, which the Council accepted. |
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| Minute 46 - YOUTH PARLIAMENT | ||
| Minute Text : Councillor Phil Davies, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services and Lifelong Learning, reported on what action had been taken since the previous year's Youth Parliament (16 October 2006). He referred in particular to the Council's having obtained Beacon Status for Positive Youth Engagement around that time. Over the course of the past year a number of the issues raised had been addressed and a formal feedback session had been held on 9 July 2007, at which young people had been asked what they thought about the progress made (graded red, amber or green). Action taken included facilitating meetings between young people and the Police; obtaining an undertaking from Merseytravel to work with young people; providing some additional lighting in parks; increased Community Patrol presence to ensure the safety of young people; improved security on Merseyrail trains; developing channels of communication with young people through youth forums and the Youth Parliament; and establishing a panel of young people that was given responsibility for assessing and recommending schemes for funding from the Youth Opportunities Fund and the Youth Capital Fund. He felt that over the period many young people had deepened their experience and knowledge of the workings of the Council and other agencies, especially in relation to the difficult choices that often had to be made. He concluded by thanking all of those involved in the process. The Council then went on to debate the following motion: “This Council believes that a strong Youth Offer is vital if we are to recognise and encourage young people’s involvement in society. The following four elements are, therefore, essential for a Youth Offer that is meaningful to young people. Those elements are: • Information • Respect • Access • Participation and, whilst some might be regarded as more important than others, all of them should act as cornerstones for the Council’s dealings with young people." The debate began with contributions from the following young people, who had prepared speeches on the different elements with the Youth Offer: James Murray, Jonny O’Brien, Leah Cope, Chris Checkley, Emma Kendrick, Joe Blakemore, Mike Thomas and Abbie Dunne. Another 20 young people, together with a number of councillors, spoke in the debate. Various points were raised and comments made, which, though made on a individual basis, were generally supported by the young people present, including the following: * There should be more opportunities for young people to participate in decision-making. * More consideration should be given to reducing admission and bus ticket prices for young people. * Parents should be encouraged to participate and support young people's activities. * More adult involvement in youth centres would help to improve respect between the generations. * There should be more area-based youth clubs, which could be aligned with older people's activities: older people could pass on their skills and knowledge, and older people could benefit from what young people knew about, for example, new technology. * The first step towards receiving respect was to show it to others. * Young people looked to the older generations to set an example. * Prejudice undermines respect. * Staff in school appeared to be reluctant to deal with bullying, but could enlist the help of young people to help to tackle it. * The activities of the Youth Parliament should be publicised more widely, particularly in schools. * There should be easily recognisable outlets for providing information to young people. * Better use could be made of the internet to communicate with young people. * Wirral's website was not welcoming for young people. The Council should be encouraging greater use, for example, to find out what young people wanted to see within the redevelopment of New Brighton. * The Council's website should include a page specifically designed for young people. * Websites were a valuable means of obtaining information, but many of them were blocked on school computers. * There always appeared to be strict limits on funding that meant young people were restricted in the level of their involvement. (In response to that point, the Director of Children's Services stated that further instalments of the Youth Opportunities Fund would be available from the Government). * Young people could help themselves by establishing a self-regulating youth organisation. * More funding should be available to assist support groups such as Wirral Young Carers. * In providing facilities for young people, there should be greater awareness of the needs of disabled people. * The Council should provide better lighting in parks to improve access and safety. * More/better informal indoor facilities would help reduce the numbers of young people hanging around the streets. * There should be more toilets provided in parks, together with better facilities for disposing of litter. * The absence of a litter bin was no excuse for throwing litter on the ground. * Money saved by not having to pick up litter could be applied to improved youth facilities. * Young people under 16 were not allowed to use private gyms, but they could be used to help to tackle childhood obesity * The Council should avoid taking a defeatist or negative line when contemplating the provision of services for young people, for example, by suggesting that they might get vandalisd. * The Kontactabus facilites should be extended. * The Police should meet more regularly with young people to understand their issues and problems better. * Not enough is done to protect innocent young people from street gangs under the influence of drink and drugs. * Police should not behave so aggressively to young people. * The police and fire brigade ran very good participation events which allowed young people to have a say in what improvements they would like to see. * Councillors should be keener to make approaches to young people, for example, in schools (it was pointed out in response that most Councillors were already governors of one or more schools). * Councillors should be provided with information about the range and location of clubs and other facilities for young people. * Councillors, in turn, would welcome approaches from young people - contact details were available on the Council's website. At the conclusion of the debate the motion was carried unanimously. The meeting then voted as follows on the relative priority of the four elements within the Youth Offer: Information - 27 votes Respect - 47 votes Access - 7 votes Participation - 24 votes. Two other motions were moved: (i) by Councillor Mrs Kate Wood - "That the Chief Executive prepare a report for the Cabinet on the possibility of co-opting a young person onto each of Wirral's area forums." (ii) by Councillor Mrs Lesley Rennie - "That a report be prepared also on the possibility of holding a joint meeting between the Youth Parliament and the Older People's Parliament to discuss matters of mutual interest." Both were duly seconded, voted upon and carried. The meeting concluded with statements from the three party leaders on the Council. Councillor Steve Foulkes (Labour) thanked everyone who had participated in the Youth Parliament. He felt it was important to hear the views of young people and to break down the barriers that sometimes led to a lack of respect between age groups. He could see that young people were keen to participate and to do things for themselves, but he hoped that they understood the difficulties that the Local Authority faced in its allocation of resources - it had to ensure that every penny spent, whether on facilities for young people or elsewhere, was spent wisely. It was necessary, for example, to ensure that full use was made of existing youth facilities before new ones were established. He thought it might be advantageous to establish a small panel of young people who could regularly give views, from their standpoint, on Council facilities and services. Councillor Jeff Green (Conservative) stated that he had been impressed by all of the contributions during the evening and, more generally, about the generosity of spirit shown by young people in what they did within the community. He belived that the Council should always be prepared to listen, to facilitate, and to allow young people's views to emerge. Councillor Simon Holbrook (Liberal Democrat) stated that he had taken particular note of the comments about channels of communication between young people and councillors. He was particularly concerned that young people were penalised by adult fares and charges that were imposed with no regard to the amount of money that they had available to them. He concluded by thanking all of the participants in and organisers of the day's activities. |
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| Minute Decision : Resolved - (1) (unanimously) That this Council/Youth Parliament believes that a strong Youth Offer is vital in order to recognise and encourage young people’s involvement in society. The following four elements are, therefore, essential for a Youth Offer that is meaningful to young people. Those elements are: • Information • Respect • Access • Participation and, whilst some might be regarded as more important than others, all of them should act as cornerstones for the Council’s dealings with young people. (2) That those four elements be placed in the following order of priority: Respect, Information, Participation and Access. (3) (unanimously) That the Chief Executive prepare a report for the Cabinet on the possibility of co-opting a young person onto each of Wirral's area forums. (4) That a report be prepared also on the possibility of holding a joint meeting between the Youth Parliament and the Older People's Parliament to discuss matters of mutual interest. (5) That the undertaking given by the Cabinet member for Housing and Community Safety (Councillor George Davies), to facilitate a meeting between the area Police Inspectors and the Youth Parliament be noted. (6) That the Council record its sincere appreciation of all of the contributions made to the Youth Parliament, and in particular to Maureen McDaid, Head of the Youth and Play Service, and all of her colleagues. |
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(Minute Published: 26 October 2007)