#YouthVoiceNews, 9th Oct | Scottish Youth Parlt – latest | Youth Council UK timeline | Free Training

Welcome to #YouthVoice News and Opportunities – a regular roundup from the world of youthvoice, participation, and influence

This week: SPOTLIGHT on the Scottish Youth Parliament, National Sitting, New Manifesto | Youth Council UK – latest timeline | Centre4YouthVoice new free training/events | Lundy Network conference – book now  | Votesat16Watch | and YouthVoice Opportunities. YouthVoice News is produced by Young Voices Heard CIC as a non-profit venture, and edited by a volunteer.

YOUTHVOICE HEARD – NEWS

⚡Scottish Youth Parliament – update: New board, New Manifesto

Read the Scottish Youth Parliament‘s latest newsletter here: Scotland’s Young People – October 2025 . SYP is an excellent example of a totally youth-governed and led organisation, and has just published its new Manifesto 25-31 “Dear Scotland’s Future” and announced the results of elections to its Board – Ellie Craig MSYP will be continuing as Chair of SYP, bringing a wealth of experience to the table; Marcus Flucker MSYP as Vice Chair, as well as Daniela Onyewuenyi, Ella Quinn, Hamish Nott, Rajsee Saraf, Jack Anderson, and Sophie Kerrigan MSYPs as Trustees. The Board Members will also be supported by a new group of Conveners and Deputy Conveners, who were elected at the 83rd National Sitting in Paisley. Covering areas such as health, wellbeing, and sport, justice, international affairs, media, services, and jobs, they provide leadership and direction within each committee, ensuring that MSYPs engage meaningfully with decision-makers and address key issues affecting young people in their communities. 

[Comment: ‘I have worked with and known SYP for nearly 20 years, and think it’s one of the best examples of a genuinely youth-led and governed organisation. It represents those aged 14 to 25 and has regular meaningful dialogue with decision-makers in the democratic space at a national and local level. Its board is entirely elected young trustees, but has a number of expert advisors to assist, and secure sustainable core funding from the devolved Government, administered via an independent body the Corra Foundation. Those designing a similar youth-led / governed organisation could learn much from the development of this model. James C/Ed] 

⚡Youth Council timeline – UPDATE

The National Youth Agency has updated its plans to revive a national youth council to replace the British Youth Council (which closed in Mar 24). A consultant (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) has been working with an advisory group of young advisors and older ‘expert’ advisors to take forward the recommendations of NYA consultation report published in the Spring. The initial plan was to shape a framework for memberships and governance arrangements that would be put to new members to consider before an inaugural meeting in November. Organisations across the UK, who wanted to be part of, or support the initiative, had been invited to register an interest via NYAs website, to receive more detailed information on next steps.

Speaking to over 240 attendees at the launch for the CentreforYouthVoice last week, Esther Horner-Aird, who is heading up @National Youth Agencies ‘Youth Voice’ team,  revealed a new timeline to take this forward. In October, organisations will be able to apply for membership and able to nominate representatives for election to an Executive Committee; hustings in December, voting in January, and the results to be revealed at a launch event the same month.  NYA will continue to host the initiative as a project initially. They have previously assured the sector and young leaders that they have no long-term ambition to manage the youth council, and expect this to be a stepping stone to full independent youth-led governance with to continue the legacy of BYCs vision and mission to be the national voice for our youngest and least heard in society.

⚡Centre for Youth Voice – Free Training & Events

⚡Votesat16 Watch – Youth Parlt petition? Ministers confirmed, plus latest Poll of 16/17 yr-olds

⚡Youth Parliament intend to hold a Consultation and a Petition on Political Education.  The Campaign Committee released a statement, “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…  Firstly, we intend to start 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. Secondly, 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”. [YVH has asked |UKYP@NYA for more detail on when the petition will be launched and the consultation held Ed]

⚡The Politics Project, Electoral Reform Society and the UK Democracy Fund to support young people (16 and 17 years old) involved in campaigning on votes at 16, to reach media about Votes at 16. There is a info webinar about this on 15th October. For more information / questions contact Pip Sayers, pip@thepoliticsproject.org.uk 

⚡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.

⚡UK elections chief says children need lessons from 11 to be ready to vote at 16 | Electoral Commission | The Guardian

⚡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, (private event but usually broadcast on ParliamentTV. 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 – housing, health, employment, crime and sustainability”

⚡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 “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 an 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

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

⚡Opportunities to have your say – to the Children’s Commissioner England 

This month’s newsletter from the Children’s Commissioner for England 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.

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.

⚡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.