Children and young people in Walsall will be able to influence decision-making and have their voices heard as the council commits to setting up a Youth Council.
The commitment follows Walsall’s first youth summit event held in August, which was attended by 95 local children and young people.
The council also ran a ‘Big Conversation’ consultation in January 2024, where the views of 503 children and young people from Walsall were captured, to find out more about the opportunities and challenges of growing up in Walsall.
Councillor Stacie Elson, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services at Walsall Council presented this as one of her three priorities at a scrutiny meeting last week.
Councillor Elson said, “It was great to speak to members about our plans to develop a Youth Council, and this forms part of the work we are doing with the Children and Young People’s Alliance.
“As I said in the meeting, this is all about enabling equal partnership with our children and young people, because they are the ones we’re here for, and who we work for, so it’s only right they have influence over how we shape our services now and in the future.
“From our Big Conversation at the start of the year, and our youth summit event over the summer, it’s quite simple to see how many valuable contributions and opinions our young people have, and we want to continue to keep them engaged, and prove to them we’re listening and responding to their feedback.
“Children and young people are still residents, and their views are so important to the borough’s We Are Walsall 2040 strategy. This generation are going through school and education currently, but by 2040, we want them to be happy, healthy and thriving as adults in a borough they love.
“Planning is still underway, but from initial discussions, young people have told us they want to have their say on issues such as crime and safety, the environment and climate, education, finance and budgeting, and local support services.”
Councillor Elson’s other priorities were to successfully implement the Families First for Children programme in Walsall and continue to support the children’s services workforce.
Cabinet will be presented the report and asked to endorse the We Are Walsall 2040 children and young people’s strategy on 16 October.
More information about the We Are Walsall 2040 children’s strategy can be found on the council’s committee management system: https://cmispublic.walsall.gov.uk/cmis/Meetings/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/3974/Committee/528/SelectedTab/Documents/Default.aspx
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