YouthVoice to Govt: Mini-Survey on Youth Engagement Policy 2022

Aged up to and including 25 in England? Want to influence how Govt engages with youth people on policy issues? Please complete this 5 min survey by 6th March:

“How do young people want to be involved with decision making?” “What more can government do to engage with young people?” “What should Feedback to young people look likr? “How can government engage with a diverse range of young people?” “How can government increase visibility, public engagement and awareness of youth engagement?”

Survey link:  Youth Engagement with Govt on policy   

◊ Twitter: Youth Engagement with Govt on policy (includes survey link)

Young Voices Heard is supporting the new Youth Policy Development Group work to represent youthvoice to Govt on policy. The initiative is officially recognised by the DCMS and referenced in their Youth Policy Review, which reaffirmed the Govt’s commitment to engaging young people. This next roundtable will be looking at the development and improvement of the this process of engagement between young people and govt –  Youth Engagement with Govt – and will be shared by the young reps going to the Roundtable on 22nd Feb 2022 (so please complete it asap) with an update to Govt/DCMS after the 6th March 2022 – so the survey will remain open until then.

Comment: What do young people want to get out of dialogue and engagement with Government? Is it simply to be heard on issues they feel strongly about before decisions are made in a hope to influence them? Especially when young people under 18 are too young to vote? Is it to get lobby for a higher priority for youth policies in general that affect those 18+ s well, and everyone’s future, e.g. first time jobs, housing, income? Is it to be part of collective social action, turning campaigns into action by representing peers to power? Or is it, as is often cited as the double benefit of volunteering, to develop their own skills and agency in making a difference. Possibly all of these reasons are valid and which one motivates you doesn’t matter. What does matter is whether there are accessible, visible opportunities and whether they are inclusive and meaningful with feedback. This week, as part of supporting a joint youthvoice Roundtable with Govt Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) & Shout Out UK, Young Voices Heard is promoting this mini-survey to young people (from teens to 25 in England by 6 Mar) to ask for their input on these questions. Perhaps we can all (whatever our age) relate to these questions, and might even propose other ways to inform and influence – through campaigning, protest and voting for an alternative govt. If you are in this age group, or work with/know young people with a view – please share the survey link with them by 6 Mar. We plan to post regular opportunities for young people to have their say to power – #YouthVoiceDirect. Subscribe to keep up to date.

Background

This is part of an ongoing dialogue with Government being coordinated by ShoutOutUK and the DCMS Civil Society and Youth Directorates Youth Engagement programme.

The first meeting took place in December on Covid Vacs and Testing, with the Schools Minister Robin Walker MP and officials from the Dept for Education.

The Youth policy group is not only responds to Government policy requests, but will also look to young people’s priority issues on the table.

YVH Comment 

“I was really impressed with the commitment and confidence of this diverse group from across England, aged 16-25, who were recruited and trained by ShoutOutUK in October and November, when they presented and discussed their policy recommendations on Covid vaccinations and testing amongst young people, with Department for Education officials and the Schools Minister Robin Walker MP, in December.

More recently, in January they had their second monthly Roundtable on UN Rights of the Child, and policy issues of Homelessness, Education, and Poverty with DFE officials.

The initiative is officially recognised by the DCMS and referenced by the recent DCMS Youth Policy Review, which reaffirmed the Govt’s commitment to engaging young people. This next roundtable is part of the process of ongoing development and improvement of the process.

So, as ever I’m optimistic, not just about the work of this group, but of the #youthvoice movement building behind it and other initiatives, as each new generation ‘builds back better’ on the work of its predecessors, and as ‘alumni’ take on the role of peer mentors, leaders and supporters they themselves are progressing into positions of power and influence and are now “holding the door open” and “sending the lift back down” to those that follow”

James Cathcart , Director ‘Young Voices Heard’ and ‘Campaign4Youth Recognition’

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