Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the last meeting are attached.

It was agreed:

That the minutes of the last meeting be approved as a correct and signed by the Chair.

Councillors on the Youth Cabinet are asked to consider whether they have any interest in any of the matters on the agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

There were no interests declared at the meeting.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Connolly will give a presentation at the meeting.

Councillor Connolly, the Leader of the Council and Steve Kenyon, Assistant Director of Finance attended the meeting to report on the Plan for Change consultation that was being carried out across the borough.

It was explained that the Plan for Change was the means by which the Council can continue to deliver its vision for the future.

It gave recognition that the funding received from central government was reducing along with a realisation that residents’ needs and expectations are changing and the Council and its partners will have to work differently in the future to deliver the best outcomes with the resources available to them.

The revised financial savings required for 2014/2015 had now been forecast as being £2.2m more than previously anticipated taking the figure from £7.432m to £9.7m.

Councillor Connolly explained that in order to meet these targets it was proposed that £2.145 would be saved on internal efficiencies and £75,000 by reducing payments to external organisations. The internal efficiencies were set out within the presentation and included; restructuring and not filling vacant posts, a reduction in grounds maintenance standards and better use of external funding.

It was explained that a consultation was currently being carried out on the draft savings programme and residents and stakeholders were being asked to take part in this up to the 17^th January 2014. The results from the consultation will be fed into the budget setting process for 2014/2015 and this will be debated at the Council meeting in February.

It was also explained that it was too early to consider how the Council Tax would be affected as the final Government grant had not yet been announced.

It was also reported that there would be further challenges ahead with budget cuts of £16m for 2015/2016. The Council will then have to prioritise services taking account of its legal obligations and Plan for Change priorities. Cabinet Members have already been asked to look for options and consultation will be carried out on proposals as soon as possible.

Youth Cabinet Members were advised that they could comment on the consultation through various ways;

Online, e-mail, writing to the Town Hall or by telephone on 01612535696

A report will be given at the meeting.

Vicky Maloney from Early Break attended the meeting to update those present on the work of the Children’s Trust Board since the Cabinet had last met.

It was reported that Healthwatch Bury had asked how young people could have an involvement with Healthwatch and the possibility of a young persons’ champion.

It was also explained that there had been some key posts lost within the Youth Service and those present were asked if there were any ideas on how young people could help in those areas.

Vicky reported that a project had been undertaken at Parrenthorn High School around smoking and peer work. There had also been  a discussion around transitions and looking at different services and when they are provided.

It was agreed:

That Vicky be thanked for the update

The Youth Cabinet will discuss the new name/brand for the Junior Beats. Tom Sharman will report.

Lisa Harvey-Nebil reported that the Junior BEATS service (Bury Exercise & Therapy Scheme) had been introduced to allow young people who required it to access up to twelve months of exercise with advice and support.

Lisa reported that the service was being rebranded to make it more young person focussed and move it away from the adult BEATS service.

Some research and consultation work had been carried out and the successful brand was reported as YOLO which stood for Youth Opportunities, Lifestyle Options.

Feedback was given from those present at the meeting which included:-

• YOLO stands for ‘You only live once’ – this could be confusing.
• Prefer the Junior BEATS as a brand.
• Feel that YOLO could be seen as being pretentious

It was agreed:

That the comments raised would be fed into the consultation.

Tom Sharman will report at the meeting.

Tom Sharman explained that there had been a number of discussions in relation to the Youth Cabinet. As part of these discussions it was felt that the branding of Youth Cabinet could be reviewed.

The Cabinet split into two groups and worked on new logo designs.

It was agreed:

That some provisional logo’s would be produced and brought to a future meeting for discussion.

It was explained that the youth market event would hopefully take place in July and would be an opportunity for young people to produce and sell their own homemade products.

It was also anticipated that there would be music and other events during the course of the day.

The event would be colourful and bright as well as offering business and entrepreneurial skills with advice from local businesses.

The venue had been discussed and possible locations were Castle Leisure Centre, Barracks, Market Street Running Track and Burrs Country Park. 

It was also suggested that the Colleges may be interested in supporting the event and should be contacted.

It was agreed:

That the update be noted.

An update will be given at the meeting.

Emily Kay, the youth MP for Bury reported that she had attended the Youth MP meeting at the Houses of Parliament and had taken part in the debate.

It was explained that the UK Youth Parliament’s annual sitting in the House of Commons had been held on 15 November 2013 and had been televised live on the Parliament Channel.

The event marks the launch of Parliament Week – an annual national awareness week which aims to build greater awareness, understanding and engagement with parliamentary democracy in the UK.

Members of Youth Parliament had voted on their manifesto and throughout August, September and October 2013, young people from across the UK had the opportunity to vote for the top debate they wanted discussed at the event in the Make Your Mark ballot.  The top five went through to be debated at the House of Commons.

It was reported that the benefits of this event to MYPs and their constituents are numerous, to name a few:

• Allows MYPs to represent their constituents
• Gives UKYP a national mandate
• Legitimatises the work of UKYP
• Provides statistical evidence of what young people across the UK want changed
• Allows Local Authorities to back up their own campaigns with further evidence
• Launches the 2014 UKYP national campaign with immediate effect
• Provides all MYPs with actions to take following the debate

The debate had given Emily the opportunity to meet up with other MYPs and enabled them to share their experiences.

It was agreed:

That Emily be thanked for her update.

An update will be given at the meeting.

It was reported that the Youthforia event had been held in Liverpool and had been attended by Emily, India, Jamie and Tom.

There had been the opportunity to ‘adopt a lord’ where the meeting had split off into groups who had then helped each person pick which lord they would like to adopt. The lords would then be contacted and asked to support the drive to allow 16 year olds the right to vote.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted