Welcome to this special edition on the new ‘National Youth Strategy’ with a special focus on what young people had to say during the consultation process that informed and influenced the Strategy. It briefly introduces the Young Peoples’ Report, the Research Project Report, and Youth Matters – State of the Nation set of reports published at the same time. DCMS have also published a Toolkit for organisations to share the strategy with young people and invited us all to a DCMS Webinar on Youth Matters on 16th December. (see links below/book asap)
- ⭐DCMS Youth Matters webinar on 16th December – update and slides
- ⭐Reactions from two members of the Youth Advisory Board – mobilise your youth voice too
- ⭐Toolkit to help you share the Strategy with Young People – Great idea
- ⭐Nat Strategy Research Project & Young Peoples’ Report – includes young people’s solutions
- ⭐”Youth Matters – State of the Nation.” Rec Read !!
- ⭐State of the Nation – Youth Empowerment and Democracy chapter with data – Must Read
This ‘long read’ supplements the bitesize ⭐YouthVoiceNews, 10th December [Link1] and the ⭐ Easy-to-scan Youth Strategy Youthvoice Highlights review [Link2] of promises and action plans to mobilise your youth voice in Chapter 3 ‘Seen and Heard’.
Introduction
“The Strategy was co-produced through one of the “biggest conversations the Government has had with young people in 15 years” with over 14,000 young people’s voices heard. The ’15 years’ reference is almost certainly to the coalition government’s Positive for Youth – GOV.UK strategy and action plan for those up to the age of 19, led by the Dept for Education 2010-2015. Worth a look as it set a number of performance indicators which were only followed up on once.
The new strategy is a 10-year plan which is initially backed by over £500 million of new money over the next 3 years from DCMS for “fun things to do outside of school, support when and where you need it, more youth clubs and trusted adults”. Will some of this be ringfenced to ensure the new youthvoice mechanisms for policy dialogue, new youth councils in England and the annual accountability ‘hearings’ are properly resourced to the levels needed. Hopefully, the co-production/policy process will continue to inform and influence the rollout of these promises.
I very much welcome the new commitments to embed youth voice and participation in public life, such as 1/ the promise to create a new national ‘Youth Policy Network’ that would co-produce policy, and 2/ a promise to work with local areas to establish new Local Youth Councils across England. Critically, there is also a promise to 3/ be accountable to young people through a new website for young people, which will contain updates on the delivery of the strategy, and 4/ a commitment to invite a diverse group of young people to run a 4/ new Annual National Hearing on the delivery of the strategy.
The whole strategy is promising and ambitious, but surely now merits the appointment of a dedicated senior Youth Minister to combine or coordinate youth teams in other departments, providing a point of focus, a ‘national listen’ to match the ‘national youth voice.”
James Cathcart, Dir of Young Voices Heard.
“Young people in the context of the strategy are those aged 10-21, and up to 25 with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities”. DCMS
DCMS ‘Youth Matters Webinar’ on 16th December,
Hosted by Kayleigh Wainwright & the DCMS team, was attended by 377+, who submitted 140 questions! This was the first of a programme of dialogue and discussion events, locally and nationally, which will be delivered in partnership with The Network of Regional Youth Work Units National Youth Agency The #iWill Movement#iWill Movement UK Youth & others..
You can keep in touch direct by signing up to Department for Culture, Media and Sport Youth Team newsletter here https://lnkd.in/eQUyD2Rj
Read Kayleighs summary of the Webinar here and View Slides⬇️
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Toolkit to help you share the Strategy with Young People The government want to ensure that more young people hear about this strategy and understand how the Government plans to support them and have developed this toolkit which includes a session plan and feedback form so practitioners can host sessions on the strategy with young people and feedback on their thoughts directly to the Government.
“We encourage young people to host these sessions with their peers. The toolkit will have two additional feedback forms, a form for young people and one for sector professionals to feedback on the strategy. More content, including social media assets and extra information about the strategy will be added to this toolkit”. What this space. DCMS Youth Team Newsletter Click here to subscribe
“The National Youth Strategy represents hope: targeted investment in the working class communities too often overlooked. It strengthens our mission to show the state schoolers, the kids on the council estates, the ones whose youth has been shaped by limited resource, that they matter too.” Sophie Pender, Founder, The 93% Club, Youth Advisory Group
“I’ve seen firsthand that the greatest successes of the National Youth Strategy come from one simple principle: putting young people at the centre. Its strength lies in the fact that youth voices didn’t just contribute to its composition — they shaped its direction, its priorities and its purpose. By listening to young people every step of the way, we’ve created a strategy that is not only credible and representative, but one that I hope will deliver real, lasting change” Dan Lawes, Co-CEO of My Life My Say, Youth Advisory Group.
National Youth Strategy Young Peoples’ Report
Written for a youth audience, readers of all ages will find this version of the Research Projects report very accessible and to the point. For some its perhaps the starting point before you delve into the longer report, Youth Matters and the Youth Strategy itself – so its a recommended read. Here is an extract of what it says about #YouthVoice in the section ‘Having Your Say’
Having your say
“Many young people worry that important decisions are being made without listening to their views. Whether it’s in their local area, at school, or for the whole country, it can seem like there’s no easy way for young people to share their thoughts, and even when they do speak up, they feel their opinions often aren’t taken seriously. As a result, important changes can feel like they just happen to them, rather than with them. This makes some young people feel powerless and less likely to get involved in their community or politics.”
The report includes some survey results that show that “less than a third (31%) of young people feel like their voice matters locally, and even fewer (26%) for decisions made nationally” and that “nearly half (49%) disagree that their voice matters at the national level. Some groups, for example girls, young people with SEND, and those from lower income backgrounds, feel even more left out and unsure how to get involved”.
What are the obstacles and challenges that prevent young people being heard?
- “Where can I have my say? Young people want to have their say, particularly on local issues, but often aren’t sure where or how to do it, especially in places where youth voices aren’t usually invited.
- Not knowing what’s possible: If young people haven’t been included before, or don’t know much about how politics or local decisions work, it’s even harder to get involved. For many, the Hack events were the first place they’d ever been asked for their opinion about their community.
- Some groups feel less heard: For example, young people from small towns or villages, lower income homes, or with SEND are the least likely to feel like they know how to make their voice count“.
What do young people want to change?
Young people who took part in the Hack events organised by partner organisations had several “ideas for making sure youth voices are really listened to and respected” and include a ‘key demand’:
- Feedback boxes: anonymous ways to share views with people in charge, such as local councillors.
- Youth involvement in decisions: letting young people have a say before important decisions are made in their area.
- Clearer accountability: making sure that adults show that they’ve listened and what has changed as a result, so young people know their opinions really matter.
- One key demand was that young people’s ideas aren’t watered down as they go up to the people who make the decisions.
What would help more young people be engaged? Survey results found that young people are much more likely to take part in their community if:
- they feel their voice is heard and matters in big decisions, and
- they know how to influence what happens.
These findings show that when young people see that speaking up actually makes a difference, they are more likely to get involved and try to help make their community better.
What’s needed next? Young people want to:
- learn how to make their voice count through better political and civic education at school and in the community
- have more chances to get involved and be asked for their views early, not as an afterthought
- see real proof that their voices are making a difference, with honest feedback from decision-makers
By making it easier and more meaningful for young people to speak up, and showing that their voices really matter, communities will be healthier, fairer, and stronger for everyone.”
National Youth Strategy Research Project
This National Youth Strategy Research Project report builds on the State of the Nation reports four outcomes. A fifth on ‘youth voice’ has been added to reflect the importance, discussed with DCMS, of continued youth engagement and solutions to embed youth voices in local and national policies.
The chapter on Youth Voice notes that ‘young people feel excluded from decision-making at a local and national level” characterised by two key challenges: “young people feeling like their voice is not heard”, and 2/ “issues raised by young people not being addressed by successive governments, leading to a perception that major changes are happening that are out of their control. In turn, a vicious cycle begins; young people do not feel like their voices are being heard, so they participate less in politics and civic engagement. Breaking this cycle is important… Across a range of statements, young people are more likely to disagree than agree that their voice matters and that they know how to influence decisions at a local and national level”.
The full report is worth exploring in detail – but here is an extract to illustrate what young people have identified as the key themes going foreward, and could usefully be an agenda for ongoing dialogue between young people, policy makers and decision makers locally and nationally. I’ve reproduced some of their ideas again that also appear in the Young Peoples Report, as examples of their suggestions. I’m sure, given the opportunity to mobilise your youth voice – we will hear more”
Youth Voice Solutions
1/ Responsiveness and accountability
- “Introducing anonymous feedback boxes directed to elected officials such as local councillors, to allow young people to comfortably share their perspectives on local issues.
- Community consultations that explicitly include young people in decisions before they are taken.
- The underlying sentiment connecting these demands is a desire for clear lines of accountability, providing evidence to young people that their input is tracked, responded to and acted upon by those in authority”.
2/ Confidence-building and Encouragement
“There is a need for young people to be taught [in schools] about good models of participation and ways to express their views to encourage more active engagement.”
3/ Respect for youth contributions
“Beyond involvement in decision-making, there is also a strong emphasis on the need for authority figures to have greater recognition of and respect for the contributions of young people”.
Two key factors relating to youth voice stand out as the most prominent drivers of community engagement – “Feeling like your voice matters for decisions made in the country” and “Knowledge of how to influence decisions made in the country”.
Continuing dialogue and coproduction
The report concludes that not enough emphasis has been put on both getting feedback on policy impact to young people – feedback that #youthvoice campaigners and #youngleaders have been calling on for decades. “This research has revealed the overarching challenges facing young people but has not delved into the specific policy and practical changes they want to see. As policy develops, young people should be engaged at each stage of the research, with specific mechanisms including”:
- Regular workshops, focus groups and engagement in schools, colleges, and youth clubs to gather detailed views on new or changing policies. Online sessions should also be facilitated for harder-to-reach groups. A research agenda should be designed with regular check-ins with representative groups of young people.
- Ongoing collaboration with Youth Collaborators and the Youth Advisory Group on new or changing policies.
- Youth advisory panels attached specifically to policy teams, with rotating and diverse membership to ensure fresh perspectives.
- Digital engagement platforms offering surveys, discussion forums and live Q&A sessions, enabling young people from all backgrounds and regions to contribute in real time. Online communities, in particular, could be a valuable vehicle for regular feedback mechanisms with young people.
- Peer research and peer-led consultations, so that young people are not just participants, but also active leaders and analysts in the process.
- Ongoing quantitative engagement: this research has provided a highly valuable snapshot of young people’s views at a specific point in time. As policy develops and begins to be implemented, ongoing engagement is needed to understand its impact.
The report concludes that these approaches “would help fill knowledge gaps and ensure that policy development keeps pace with changing needs and aspirations, not just in principle but also in practice”.
ENDS
Youth Matters: State of the Nation Report
The insights gathered from the co-produced consultation have been published alongside the strategy in the State of the Nation Report, including regional breakdowns. The DCMS newsletter highlights key themes but a closer reading of the full report reveals an excellent section with survey data on “Youth Empowerment and Democracy”. It was clearly a significant influence on the Government’s response and a ‘must read’ reference going forward.
YouthVoice Heard on Empowerment and Democracy
This chapter looks at how young people in England get involved with their communities and shape decisions. It shows how important it is for them to have a say and feel like their voices are heard. It explores their level of volunteering, social action and voting. Findings show that young people often feel that they are not heard by those in power, leading to them taking a step back from being involved with politics. It also highlights a distrust of politics and they want more meaningful ways to influence decision-making and to shape their communities.
- In the National Youth Strategy Survey, young people were just as likely to disagree as agree that they know how to influence decisions made in their local area (34% vs. 34%), and more likely to disagree than agree that they know how to influence decisions made in the country more broadly (36% vs. 33%).
- The cost of housing (38%), the NHS/healthcare (37%), the economy/inflation/cost of living (37%) and mental health (33%) were the most important political issues to young people (14 to 24 year olds) in the UK (DofE, 2024).
[Note the different age range – we need more polling / surveys of the Youth Strategy target group (10 to 21) and given the lowering voting age – those aged 16 and 17, and those who will be 16 and 17 in future elections Ed]
ENDS