Welcome to #YouthVoice News and Opportunities – a regular roundup from the world of youthvoice, participation and influence
This week: | Centre for Youth Voice open for business! | Youth Parliament will debate but not vote in Commons | | Lundy Network conference confirmed | Votesat16Watch – UK Youth Parliament to launch consultation and petition | Childrens Commissioner (Eng) YouthVoice + YouthVoice Opportunities | YouthVoice News is produced by Young Voices Heard CIC as a non-profit venture, and edited by a volunteer.
YOUTHVOICE HEARD – NEWS
⚡Centre for Youth Voice – Launch 30th Sept
Hosted by Young Ambassadors and the Network of Regional Youth Work Units, the event, attended by over 240 online, launched a new website, new training offers/dates, signposted resources for practitioners and young people, and discussed areas for future development. The Centre for Youth Voice will supported by the National Lottery Community Fund for one year and is UK-wide. A recording and set of slides from the event will be shared at a later date – but you can check out the website and sign up for a newsletter now.
The Centre will have three areas of focus: Insight – focusing on the data and insight from speaking to young people or by young people; Involved – focusing on increasing the meaningful participation of young people; and Impact – focusing on the impact that youth voice can have for policy, practice and those involved. They will offer free training (see below for dates) and continue to provide a common resource hub. Its work is informed and influenced by a group of young Ambassadors. “The Centre for Youth Voice can empower practitioners and organisations to engage with young people in a meaningful way and have the necessary resources and knowledge to incorporate youth voice in their work.’ Qahira Shah, Centre for Youth Voice Ambassador”
Centre4YV – Trraining And Events – Free – Click here for details and times, and RSVP to book.
⚡Youth Parliament back in House of Commons – but no voting
The UK Youth Parliament (hosted by the National Youth Agency) is back in the Commons, but will not be voting to prioritise its campaigns for 2026. UKYP@NYA told us that “The second House of Commons Annual Sitting, as part of the 2024-2026 term of office, will be where MYPs will debate different chapters from the different [UKYP] Committee Reports. Unlike past events where MYPs have voted to prioritise different campaigns, the debate during the November 2025 Annual Sitting will be for MYPs to put forward their opinions on five different areas of debate, which all link to wider Committee Reports [written by UKYP’s new Portfolio Committees] as part of the second year of the UKYP programme/term. The Hansard from the debates will become an appendix of the reports and help to showcase a range of views on the issues being debated”.
“Our Programme Committee, as elected representatives for their region/nation have selected housing, health, employment, crime and sustainability to be the five areas from the wider reports to be debated in the chamber”.
These policy areas are within the UKYP Manifesto ‘Shaping our Future Today Not Tomorrow’ which has 110 agreed policies, grouped in chapters to match Govt department portfolios. The Committee System and Portfolio Committees and the Programme Committee are examples of innovations introduced under the new NYA hosting arrangement for the two-year term 2024-26. The ‘Programme Committee’ was formerly the Steering Group, which had responsibility for strategic and procedural decisions.
Comment: The UK Youth Parliament is a DCMS/Govt tendered contract picked up by NYA until March 26, following the closure of BYC who have previously managed it until March 24. Consequently, the Nov 24 debate was delayed until Feb25 when it voted to prioritise MYPs campaigns for 25/26 eg Votesat16+Education. This second debate in a year is therefore back to its usual slot in the UKYP / Parliamentary calender. Whilst the topics chosen are very relevant, I was suprised that one of the topics is not to be their current campaign – Votes at 16 and Political Education – especially given that they have just announced plans for a consultation and petition to parliament about it, and that commentators expect the Govt to introduce legislation later in the same month as this debate – November 25. (See Votesat16sWatch)
The UKYP programme is under review both through DCMS external evaluation and as part of the Govt broader spending review. What will happen post March 26? We await the outcome of the DCMS Youth Strategy (promised to be published in the autumn) to see what the Government’s position will be on hearing youthvoice representation at a national level, something that young people have been led to expect, having co-produced a consultation for the Youth Strategy, which reported they still didn’t feel their voices were being heard. Will the new strategy herald a new ongoing dialogue with a revived official youth council to replace BYC? Will it be prepared to grant fund two natinoal youth voice bodies (UKYP and YCUK) which had been the case when UKYP was originally founded as a separate charity prior to its Government initiatives integration into BYC in 2012 and completed for funding from both Govt grants and Local Authority budgets). Will the advent of votes at 16, and all the changes to the youthvoice landscape in recent years, put the future of a UK Youth Parliament model at risk or boost the need to reform and elevate it? The Government surprised many when it closed the National Citizen Service, saying that ‘the world has changed’ since it was first conceived.
Whatever conclusion the reviews/evaluation reach, the Government needs to make a statement about the future of UKYP as soon as possible as some local authorities are already advertising elections for young people to stand to be MYPs for a new term of office for 2026-2028. Ed/JC
Children’s Commissioner England – Your Voice Forum (Sept25)
This month’s newsletter from the Children’s Commisioner includes an opportunity to apply to join a new Youth Advisory Board “which will focus on the future of childhood for a project being conducted by The Government Office for Science. If you’re 14-18, find out more and apply here, deadline 12th October.
There is also an opportunity for children and young people to share your views on the fitness, wellness and beauty products you see online for a report the CC is working on. Share your views here, deadline 12th October, you can also sign up for focus groups to speak to us directly at the end of the survey.
There is also an ongoing survey on issues that you are worried about and want to change, what you’d do if you were Prime Minister, and your hopes and ambitions for the future.- The Big Conversation Survey only takes a few minutes to fill in and you can share it with your friends, siblings and parents/carers can fill it in for younger children or those with additional needs.
⚡Lundy model network conference Edinburgh
“The Lundy Model Network (LinkedIn Group) are delighted to share our fourth in person gathering on 13th November 2025 at Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue 16 St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU 🎉 The event is open to organisations with experience of applying the Lundy Model of Participation across teams/ divisions/ departments, and who are able to evidence impact and share resources and expertise. With opening address from Prof. Laura Lundy and other speakers to be confirmed. Workshops for the day include: Language of participation – Active listening – Vehicles for participation and youth advisory boards – Youth Justice and professional bias. Spaces are limited, so we ask organisations to limit 2 delegates per organisation, there will be 100 delegates in total. There is a charge of £50 to cover the cost of venue, refreshments and lunch, info on the booking page. Register here . https://lnkd.in/ermadHgy
⚡Votesat16 Watch – Youth Parlt, Minister, latest Poll of 16/17 yr-olds
⚡Youth Parliament intend to hold a Consultation and a Petition on Political Education.
The Youth Parliament has been consistently and repeatedly campaigning for Votes at 16 from the start and has added a call for political education to be included in Government plans going forward [as have the other key campaigners in recent years]. The Campaign Committee released a statement which was recently shared with YVN News.
“The campaign isn’t over until the law has changed. The motion that appears in the current UKYP manifesto [and voted at the House of Commons debate to be its priority campaign this year] also extends to education. We are intent on holding the Government to this promise and lobby for mandatory, in-depth, political education in schools on behalf of every young person in the UK.”
CALLS TO ACTION
1/ “We intend on starting an E-petition titled “Require appropriate citizenship and political education in schools across the UK”. The goal is to reach 100,000 signatures and generate media coverage on it, to show the scale of support this campaign has”
2/ “To ensure this political education is implemented properly across all regions of the UK, we plan to run a consultation with teachers, education professionals and experts, and students aged 11-18, to ensure that their voices are heard. We will present the outcome of this consultation to the UK Government and devolved Governments so they can be more informed on how these lessons would be implemented in the most effective way possible- making them easy for students to understand and aiming to avoid adding pressure to teachers”.
Comment: Ive asked for more information on the timetable for the consultation and petition, but presumably it will be aimed at informing and influencing the government as they take forward plans to introduce legislation and roll out alongside the Electoral Commission. Although the next Kings speech for legislation is not due until March 26, some campaigners expect legislation could be introduced as early as November, by the new Ministerial Team for Democracy and Elections (Steve Reed MP and Samantha Dixon MP). The Government have already announced their intention to include plans for education and guidance along with other measures to making voting more accessible to young first-time voters, many of which are included in the Politics Project Roadmap to Votes at 16, launched in July in the House of Commons. JC/Ed
⚡Steve Reed MP, the new Sec of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has Democracy and Elections listed as part of his Ministerial responsibilities. Samatha Dixon MP has responsibilities include Elections and is taking over from Rushanara Ali MP who resigned in the summer.
⚡Votes at 16: Are schools prepared for politics in the classroom? – Schools Week Education is a vital part of votesat 16 . The Association Citizenship Teachers calls for citizenship to be made statutory in primary schools as well as better training for teachers.
⚡Votesat16Watch – poll reveals most 16-17 year olds (59%) support lowering the voting age, but split on whether they feel informed enough to vote.More In Common – Sunday Times 16-17s
⚡Coming Up
⚡UK Youth Parliament debate in House of Commons – Thursday 6th November, See article above.
⚡Youth Council UK – first meeting early November – agenda and date to be confirmed
⚡18th Oct: Next Gen Conference (UK youth in democracy) for those aged 16-30/ Min of Sound https://lnkd.in/e5g6SefD
⚡13th November Laura Lundy Network Group event – Edinburgh
If you have an event open to all, or of significant interest, let us know.
RESOURCES:
⚡Youth Voice Annual Census 2025: results The voices of over 8,000 young people (aged 11-30 / UK, surveyed between Mar-June, + 11 focus groups with 72 young people) tell us how they feel about where they live, work, and study. (Youth Employment UK has conducted this census every year since 2018. Click Here for full Report. Key Findings in YouthVoiceNews 17th Sept Crime and violence is now the number one national issue (43%), overtaking leadership (22%) and the economy (38%). Locally, crime (37%) and safety (25%) are also the most common worries.
⚡Youth Voice Poll /Research: Views of 16 and 17-year-olds/ More In Common Aug 25 on Votes at 16 | Voting Intentions | Mental Health and WellBeing | Legacy of Lockdown | School | Vaping Smoking Drinking | Screentime, Social Media | Online Safety |AI | Feminism and Gender Equality | Pride and Patriotism | Monarchy | Climate Change | Boats crossing the Channel |…. and how their priorities diverge on the Big Issues compared with the wider public.Read the full report click : Source and Full Research results and tables: Sunday Times 16-17s Sample 1,000 / GB (Eng/Scot/Wales) 15-20th August 2025
YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES
Our pick #youthvoice opportunities. For a broader range of early career/skill-building roles go to our friends’ website Youth Opportunities | Early Career and Skill Building roles in the UK
If you have a #youthvoice opportunity coming up, drop us a line info@youngvoicesheard.org.uk
⚡Young NCB – Black and Global Majority Group: 11-18 young people identifying as Black and Global Majority aged 11-18 (11-24 for disabled young people and those with special educational needs). “Joining the group will give members a chance to learn new skills, meet new people and have access to amazing opportunities”. There are four in-person meetings a year at our London offices and all members get vouchers for taking part. Members can have their voices heard on issues which are important to them and help shape the work of a national charity. If you’re interested in applying, go to https://buff.ly/OA1d9dZ and if you have any questions email participation@ncb.org.uk Applications close Monday 6 October.
⚡Girlguiding is looking for passionate young members or volunteers aged 13-19 to join its Advocate Panel. You’ll meet with MPs, learn how to drive change, and take part in monthly online meetings for a year. Apply by Sunday 5th October.
⚡Trustee positions – Interested in becoming a trustee? Only 3% of trustees are under the age of 30. Find under-30-friendly trustee boards through Young Trustees Movement
For other YVH recommended resources, go to the www.YoungVoiceHeard.org.uk main website / RESOURCES, or click #YouthVoiceNews – Recommending Reads and Resources for a summary of what’s on the website.