Youth Voice
We face an unprecedented set of challenges. Poverty, the climate emergency, worsening mental health and well-being, social and economic inequalities and racial injustice. Young people have consistently told us they want to take action on these issues. Young people have been needlessly excluded from conversations and too many decision makers fail to recognise the positive impact young people are making in their communities. Young people are not the ‘leaders of tomorrow’, they should be enabled to lead today.
We will
- Continue to fund Youth Advisory Boards [YAB] and enable members to genuinely participate in decision making
- Sign up to the Power of Youth Charter | #iwill
- Ask you to help us design services and evaluate how well the services that we provide and commission meet the expectations and needs of children and young people.
- Ensure that young people in Norfolk are consulted on decisions that impact them, and make surveys conducted by the council accessible
- Provide training and reward to help you do this work
- Support YAB campaigns
- Work with Norfolk’s Youth Parliament and commit to adopting your ‘make your mark’ ballot priorities each year
- Introduce a space on the agenda of county council committees for YAB and Youth Parliament members to ask questions and suggest subjects for scrutiny
- Meet with YAB, Youth Parliament and In-care Council members at least 4 times a year so that we can be held to account and to listen to your experiences, identify problems and barriers and agree how to work together to solve them