City Council to sign up to ‘Power of Youth’ charter

Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) is set to become the first council in the country to sign up to a campaign to give young people more say in decisions that affect their lives.

BHCC’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee is being asked to sign up to the national Power of Youth charter when it meets on January 11.This aims to give young people – particularly from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds – more power in the following areas:

• Taking social action
• Getting involved in decision-making
• Leading and shaping both the activities they are involved in and wider decisions
• Working with other organisations to create more high-quality opportunities and achieve shared goals.

Councillors will be asked to agree a number of methods to achieving these aims such as the creation of a digital badge of participation for young people taking part, and councillors offering mentoring to young people.

Hannah Clare, Committee chair Councillor, said: “I really want to see the council giving more children and young people the chance to influence decisions aout services and issues that affect them.“We agreed a youth participation plan in November. This followed a lot of very positive consultation with our young people. It was a big step forward.“Being the first council in the country to sign up to the Power of Youth Charter would give a clear message to our children and young people that we are serious about wanting to empower them to make a positive difference to their lives and to their communities.”