Agenda and minutes

Councillor Members of the Youth Cabinet are asked whether they have an interest in any item on the agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

The Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 21 June 2016 are attached.

Delegated decision:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st June be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair

Radcliffe Skate park

Further to the issue that was raised at the last meeting, Councillor Walker informed the cabinet of a £9,000 grant that had been secured to renovate the skate park in Radcliffe. The money had been made available through Section 106. It was explained that the money would mainly go towards a new fence surrounding the skate park but would also look into whether the budget could fund new tarmac as well.

Councillor Walker also told the cabinet that clearing glass and other hazardous litter from the skate park came at a great cost to the council. Because of this, a self management system was being considered so users of the skate park would be able to clean any hazards themselves. The system would be managed by youngsters who use the park.

Heather will report at the meeting

Heather told the cabinet that the circles of influence conference had taken place two weeks ago. She explained the event was attended by 45 young people and together they outlined the biggest issues of young people today. Each issue was raised by at least 30 young people at the conference. Heather gave the cabinet a list of some issues outlined at the conference and asked them to put them in order of importance (most important to least).

Following discussion, the cabinet decided that the order of the issues should be as follows;

1.   Young people feel that they often do not get the right help at the right time. There is a feeling that professionals wait until situations escalate before thy intervene meaning the problem is greater and could have been avoided if help had been available.

2.   Young people feel that they do not leave school with the skills they need to succeed in life. They would like to learn budgeting, CV writing, politics and other practical skills at school

A.   Sex and relationship education in school is poor, young people feel they learn a lot about sex but want a much greater focus on learning about relationships.

B.   Young people want school to offer more work experience.

3.   Young people said the common type of bullying is racist abuse

4.   Young people think a reflection and relaxation space at their school would help them manage to stress.

5.   Most young people are unhappy with themselves and wish they were different in some way.

It was agreed:

That the order set out above be approved.

Heather will report at the meeting

 Each year, young people (nationally) take part in the annual Make Your Mark ballot. The ballot decides what Members of the UK Youth Parliament should debate and vote on to be their campaign for the coming year. The Ballot includes the top 10 issues affecting young people at the time. Of these ten, the top five are debated within the House of Commons. The UKYP members then vote on which two of these are the biggest issues affecting society’s youth. These are then the two campaigns for the next calendar year.

Last year’s total in the ballot was just under one million. This year Make your Mark were aiming to exceed one million votes.

Bilal told the cabinet that they could visit the UKYP Make Your Mark website to check whether their schools were registered for the ballot.

The members present debated this topic. Opening speeches were made and arguments for and against were discussed.

It was agreed:

That those present be thanked for their input

An opportunity to raise issues, make comments and ask questions.

Upcoming meetings

Bilal informed the cabinet of two meetings; one being held on 27^th July in which all the Youth Cabinets/Councils of Greater Manchester will gather, and another meeting of the GMYA where the talking points will highlight what young people would like the Mayor of Greater Manchester to look at, held on the 3^rd August.

Don’t hate Educate

This year’s campaign will be a mental health campaign and the campaign will begin after the annual sitting. Bilal asked the attendees to all follow the social media pages for the campaign and to share them if possible.

Radcliffe High School

It was brought to the cabinet’s attention that there was currently no high school in Radcliffe. This results in all young people living in the area having to commute to school. The cabinet decided they should try and campaign for a new high school to be built in the area.

Make Your Mark Drama Production

Molly informed the cabinet of a Make Your Mark Theatre production at the Contact Theatre, Manchester on 5^th August. If anyone was interest they were told to contact Matthew Elliot to sign up for it.

Date of next meeting

The next meeting of the Youth Cabinet is scheduled for Thursday 13^th October 2016.