London,
12
October
2011
|
23:00
Europe/London

Young People of Hackney help to hold decision-makers to account

Local teenagers have joined Hackney’s Children & Young People Scrutiny Commission to help scrutinise the way that services for young people are provided in the borough.

Yoldas Yildiz, Mehria Fazli and Mahmoudat Sanni-Oba from Hackney Youth Parliament (HYP) will work with the Commission to investigate how the council and partners take decisions about a variety of topics, such as education, activities for young people and social services. As formal members of the Commission they can quiz politicians, and request information from various public bodies.

The HYP members’ first project is to review the services provided to young carers, to help support them as they look after parents or family. This involves hearing from a variety of stakeholders, including Social Care professionals, local health practitioners, The Learning Trust, a local school and other organisations involved with young people.

Most importantly Commission members have talked to young carers themselves about their experiences. This will result in a report published at the end of the year about how to improve how schools and other services can work better together to provide support and excellent services to young carers and their families.

Cllr Gulay Icoz, Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission, said: “I am very pleased to welcome the representatives from Hackney Youth Parliament to our Commission. Their contributions will strengthen the already good relationship between the Commission and Hackney Youth Parliament, and ensure the views of young people are included in all of our investigations.”

HYP’s Yoldas Yildiz said: “I am excited to join the Commission to represent the views of young people at the highest levels of the Council. It is important that these views are listened to and respected, and it is great that the Scrutiny Commission has invited us to play a full part in their work.”

The HYP members joined in time for Local Democracy Week (October 10-16) which is an annual event where local authorities from across Europe organise public events to meet and engage with their citizens on issues of current interest. The aim is to promote and foster democratic participation at a local level.

More information about Local Democracy Week can be found on their website- http://www.coe.int/t/congress/demoweek/default_en.asp