To receive as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Youth Parliament held on 11 October, 2011.

The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 11 October, 2011, having been circulated to all Members, it was:

Resolved – That the minutes be approved and adopted.

The purpose of this meeting is to enable members of the Council and young people to meet and discuss those issues that are important to young people in Wirral today.  Details of the agenda for the youth parliament event are attached.

Before the commencement of the Youth Parliament in the Council Chamber a performance was given by members of Wirral Youth Theatre in the Civic Hall.

The young people and Councillors assembled in the Council Chamber at 6.15 pm. The Mayor welcomed the young people and thanked Maureen McDaid, Principal Manager, CYPD Planning & Resources Branch Commissioning/Participation, her team and the officers for organising the event. The Mayor explained the purpose of the evening and gave a brief outline of proceedings. The Mayor then invited Upton Hall to present their proposal.

The following proposal was put by Upton Hall’s Proposer, Leah Simpkin:

In light of the Olympic success should there be more sporting provision easily available to the young people of Wirral?

Upton Hall’s Opposing proposal was put by Jessica Kelly.

The debate was then opened to Councillors and young people for their contributions.

The Upton Hall seconder Janine Lewis then closed the debate.

The proposal was put and lost (14:38).

The following proposal was put by Prenton High Schools Proposer, Courtney Needler:

We propose that in all Wirral parks, there should be either an internet café or wi-fi café so that young people can meet and have access to these facilities after schools and at the weekends.  We believe that through being available to the wider community these facilities will increase the number of people currently visiting the parks.

Prenton High Schools Opposing proposal was put by Hannah Cook.

The debate was then opened to Councillors and young people for their contributions.

The Prenton High School seconder Rosie Trickett then closed the debate.

The proposal was put and lost (6:52).

The following proposal was put by the Oldershaw Proposer, Megan Jones:

We believe that because of the current economic climate and the increase of university fees more young academic young people are opting for apprenticeships, this is resulting in young people with less than 5 A-Cs at GCSE are being denied an employment option.  Therefore we call on Wirral Council to guarantee that employment opportunities for young people will be guaranteed in any Wirral Council regeneration contracts and there will be a guarantee of 25% of jobs created by these contracts will be for apprenticeships for young people.

Oldershaw’s Opposing proposal was put by Charles Heath.

The debate was then opened to Councillors and young people for their contributions.

The Oldershaw seconder Ryan Barker then closed the debate.

The proposal was put and carried (36:20).

The following proposal was put by Birkenhead Academy for Girls Proposer, Annapreet Bhullar:

“Where there are areas of lower average life expectancy, this is due to lifestyle choices”.

Birkenhead Academy for GirlsOpposing proposal was put by George Anderson.

The debate was then opened to Councillors and young people for their contributions.

The proposal was put and lost (8:42).

Councillor Geoffrey Watt sought advice from the Acting Director of Law, HR and Asset Management regarding Declarations of Interest for the following item. The Acting Director of Law, HR and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.