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involving young people in decision making
a survey of local authorities
research briefing 10August 2001
All rights reserved. Reproduction of this document is welcomed providing the
copyright holders are acknowledged and the text is not edited.
Copyright Local Government Association 2001
Published by LGA Publications, the Local Government Association
Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ.
Tel. 020 7664 3000. Fax. 020 7664 3030.
LGA code F/SR039 ISBN 1 84049 254 6
Contents
Executive summary
Background and policy context
Survey results
Activity levels
Reasons for involving young people
Impact on decision making
Responsibility for involving young people
Policy stage
Issues
Profile of young people involved in local authority
decision making
Hard to reach young people
Recruitment
Methods
Support and training
Evaluation
Page
3
5
6
6
10
11
12
15
16
18
20
21
22
25
27
Executive summary
3
About the survey
This survey was carried out by the Local Government
Association (LGA) and the Institute for Public Policy
Research (IPPR).
This research is part of a wider project funded by the
Joseph Rowntree Foundation through the local
government advisory group.
The aim of the survey was to measure current local
authority activity in involving young people in their
decision making.
A questionnaire was sent to the chief executives in all
410 local authorities in England and Wales in March
2001. By the end of the fieldwork, in May 2001, 226
local authorities had responded, a response rate of 55
per cent.
Activity levels
• Over three quarters of local authorities that responded
to the survey said that they are currently working with
young people to involve them in decision making, with
a further 10 per cent saying they were planning to.
Nine per cent also said they had worked with young
people in the past;
• nearly 90 per cent of respondents said that the amount
of work they had done to involve young people in
decision making had increased over the past four
years.
Reasons for involving young people
• More than nine out of 10 councils responding, cited
gaining information on young people’s views and
improving service delivery as the most important
reasons for involving young people in decision
making.
Impact on decision making
• Nearly seven out of 10 respondents felt that young
people had some influence on the decisions made in
particular areas;
• just over one quarter of respondents felt that young
people had very little influence over decisions made by
the council.
Responsibility for involving young people
• In almost all authorities that responded, it is education
departments that have initiated young people’s
involvement exercises;
• over three-quarters of councils said that social services
departments, cultural and related services or a
corporate unit had initiated some activity;
• in 50 per cent of authorities a corporate unit was
responsible for leading young people’s involvement
activities;
• one in five local authorities have a strategy in place for
young people’s involvement with a further 29 per cent
planning to introduce one;
• almost 90 per cent of respondents said they involved
local voluntary and other groups in their work with
young people.
Policy stage
• Almost 90 per cent of respondents involve young
people in identifying problems and issues of concern;
4
• around three-quarters also involve young people in
developing ideas on new policies and services.
Issues
• Youth services has been the area which has seen the
greatest amount of young people’s involvement with
over 90 per cent of respondents saying they had
involved young people in this issue. Around three-
quarters had also involved young people in education,
leisure and community safety.
Profile of young people involved
• Local authorities were most likely to involve 14-16 year
olds (93 per cent of respondents) and 17-18 year olds
(86 per cent of respondents) in their decision making.
Hard to reach young people
• Seventy per cent of respondents said they had
involved one or more hard to reach groups of young
people. The most often involved groups were looked
after young people, young people excluded from
school, and young people from ethnic minority
communities.
Contacting young people
• The main methods of contacting young people were
through youth services (93 per cent), youth and
community groups (89 per cent) and schools (89 per
cent).
Methods
• The most popular method for involving young people
in decision making was through youth forums/councils
with over three-quarters of respondents saying they
used this method.
Training
• Four out of 10 respondents said they provided training
for young people to take part in involvement activities.
A similar number provide training for staff but only 12
per cent said they provided training for councillors.
Evaluation
• Three out of 10 councils said they evaluated the impact
of initiatives involving young people in decision making.
The most commonly used mechanisms for evaluation
were questionnaires and focus groups.
Background and policy context
5
In recent years local councils have taken steps to
promote young people’s involvement in decisions
about their lives and communities. Many government
policies and programmes, such as the Single
Regeneration Budget (SRB), the Connexions Service,
and Quality Protects, emphasise the need to involve
young people in their development and delivery. The
Local Government Act 2000 requires councils to
prepare ‘community strategies’ for promoting or
improving the economic, social and environmental well
being of their area. The involvement of local people is
central to the production of these community strategies,
with Welsh authorities expected to show that young
people were involved in this process.
This policy context means that local authorities are
increasingly looking at effective ways to engage and
involve young people in their decisions. The IPPR and
LGA are currently undertaking work in this area. IPPR
are developing a practical guidance note, aimed at
local authority officers and members, on good practice
in involving young people in decisions. The LGA, in
partnership with the National Youth Agency, have
recently developed standards for councils on involving
young people in democracy (see footnote on page 8)
As a result, the LGA and IPPR undertook a survey in
April 2001 to measure current local authority activity in
involving young people in decision making.
A questionnaire was sent to the chief executives in all
410 local authorities in England and Wales in March
2001. By the end of the fieldwork, in May 2001, 226
local authorities had responded, a response rate of 55
per cent.
Response rate by type of authority (%)
Authority Type Number of Authorities Number of returned
questionnaires
% responded
County 34 20 59
District 238 137 58
London borough 33 14 42
Metropolitan 36 20 56
Unitary and Welsh 69 35 51
Total 410 226 55
Survey results
6
Activity levels
Over three quarters of local authorities that responded
to the survey said that they are currently working with
young people to involve them in decision making, with
a further 10 per cent saying they were planning to.
Nine per cent also said they had worked with young
people in the past.
All county councils and metropolitan boroughs that
responded said they were currently working with
young people. District councils recorded the lowest
figure. However, this is perhaps to be expected, as
these councils do not have responsibility for education,
the youth service nor social services. (Table 1.1)
Table 1.1: does your authority work directly with young people to involve them in decision making?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh unitary
All
% % % % % %Yes, we are currently
working with young
people
100 66 79 100 92 77
Yes, we have worked
with young people in the
past
- 13 7 - 3 9
No, but we are planning
to- 14 7 - 6 10
No - 6 - - - 4
Don’t know - 1 7 - - 1
Base: all responding authorities (226)
7
Almost nine out of 10 respondents said that the amount
of work they had done to involve young people in
decision making had increased over the past four
years. For county, metropolitan and unitary councils
this figure was 100 per cent. No councils responded
that the amount of work had decreased. (Table 1.2)
Table 1.2: over the past four years has the amount of work you have done to involve young people indecision making increased or stayed the same?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh unitary
All
% % % % % %Increased 100 82 86 100 100 88
Decreased - - - - - 0
Stayed the same - 13 7 - - 8
Don’t know - 5 7 - - 4
Base: all responding authorities (226)
Councils were asked to state how much importance
they placed upon involving young people. More than
half of those who responded said it was very important,
with a further four out of 10 saying it was quite
important. County councils report the highest level of
importance with nine out of 10 respondents rating it
very important. Only one per cent of those who
responded thought that it was not at all important.
(Table 1.3)
Table 1.3: how much importance does your authority tend to place upon involving young people?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh Unitary
All
% % % % % %Very important 90 44 50 60 54 51
Quite important 10 45 36 35 37 39
Neither important /Norunimportant
- 8 7 5 9 7
Not at all important - 2 - - - 1
Don’t know - 2 7 - - 1
Base: all responding authorities (226)
8
Authorities were asked to indicate what position they
considered they were in, with regards to involving
young people, from the following options: consultingyoung people; representing young people; involvingyoung people in decision-making; involving youngpeople in implementation; and young people takingthe initiative.
This question is linked with the continuum of
involvement and participation included in the LGA/NYA
publication, Hear by right: setting standards for theactive involvement of young people in localdemocracy1.
Figure 1.1:
Position one:being consulted
Position two:representing
Position three:decision-sharing
Position four:implementing
Position five:initiating
Adults make key
decisions but consult
young people. They
take their views into
account and give
feedback about
decisions and actions.
Young people
represent their peers
and represent the
youth view on an
adult-initiated issue.
Again adults take
views into account
and give feedback
about decisions and
actions.
Young people share
responsibility for
decision-making with
adults.
Young people are
given responsibility
for a project and the
outcomes. Staff
advise and monitor.
Young people
generate ideas for
action and make all
the major decisions.
Adults are available
for consultation, but
do not take charge.
Power moves to adults Power moves to young people
1 Hear by right: setting standards for
the active involvement of young people
in local democracy. (NYA/LGA, 2001,
LGA code F/84).
Copies available from LGA’s website
www.lga.gov.uk/blg/HearbyRight.pdf
9
Around half of respondents felt that they were at the
stage of consulting young people and a quarter felt that
they were involving young people in decision-making.
County councils were the only type of authority where
more respondents felt they were involving young
people in decision making than felt they were
consulting young people. (Figure 1.2)
Figure 1.2: where do you think your authority currently stands on involving young people?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
County Counci l
District Council
London Borough
Metrop. Borough
Unitary & Welsh Unitary
Al l Counci ls
Consult ing young people Representing young people
Involving young people in decision making Involving young people in implementation
Young people taking the init iative Don’t know
Base: all responding authorities (226)
10
Reasons for involving young people
The survey asked respondents to indicate how
important a number of reasons for involving young
people in decision making were for their authority.
(Table 2.1)
More than nine out of 10 councils responding cited
gaining information on young people’s views and
improving service delivery as the most important
reasons for involving young people in decision
making. For metropolitan councils the most important
reason was to empower young people and give them
a voice with 95 per cent saying this was very or quite
important.
Meeting statutory requirements and implementing
Article 12 of the UN Convention on the rights of the
child, were seen as the least important reasons for
involving young people – especially in district councils.
A number of authorities offered other reasons for
involving young people in local decision making, the
ones most commonly cited were to increase the
awareness of democratic processes; to encourage
future active citizenship and voting; to develop young
people’s skills and to increase young people’s sense of
ownership of their local community.
Table 2.1: how important are the following reasons for your authority for involving young people indecision making? (Very important/quite important)
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh Unitary
All
% % % % % %To gain information onyoung people’s views
85 93 100 90 100 93
To improve servicedelivery
95 86 100 90 97 90
To empower youngpeople and give them avoice
95 83 93 95 86 86
To increase youngpeople’s awareness oflocal government
80 83 86 77 80 82
To meet statutoryrequirements
80 54 79 65 66 61
To implement Article 12of the UN Convention
85 41 86 65 57 52
Base: all responding authorities (226)
11
Impact on decision making
Sixty eight per cent of respondents felt that young
people had some influence on the decisions made in
particular areas. Across authority types, county
councils showed the highest level of response with
nine out of 10 respondents choosing this response.
Just over one quarter of councils responding felt that
young people had very little influence at all, the highest
figures for this response coming from district councils
(30 per cent) and unitary and Welsh unitary authorities
(29 per cent). (Table 3.1)
Table 3.1: on balance how much influence do you think young people have on decisions made by yourauthority?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh unitary
All
% % % % % %None at all - 4 - - 6 4
Very little influence 10 30 21 20 29 26
Some influence inparticular areas
90 64 79 75 66 68
A great deal of influence - 2 - - 1
Don’t know - 1 - 5 - 1
Base: all responding authorities (226)
12
Responsibility for involving young people
In almost all authorities that responded, education
departments had initiated young people’s involvement
exercises. Metropolitan boroughs showed the lowest
level of education involvement at 89 per cent and
London boroughs the highest at 100 per cent.
Over three-quarters of councils said that social
services departments and cultural and related services
had initiated young people’s involvement exercises
and in almost 75 per cent of councils, a corporate unit
had initiated some activity. For metropolitan boroughs
and district councils the department most likely to have
initiated involvement was cultural and related services.
(Table 4.1)
Table 4.1: which departments in your authority have initiated young people’s involvement exercises?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh unitary
All
% % % % % %Education* 95 - 100 89 100 97
Social Services* 95 71 - 78 70 78
Cultural & relatedservices
55 83 64 94 67 77
Corporate Unit 65 74 64 83 76 74
Housing & relatedservices**
- 38 29 44 43 39
Environmental services 45 41 57 44 40 42
Base: all responding authorities (211)
* does not include district councils (base 85)
** does not include county councils (base 191)
13
Education departments were the most popular
department for leading councils’ work on young
people’s involvement, with 60 per cent of respondents
citing them as taking a leading role. In half of all
councils that responded a corporate unit takes a
leading role – this figure rising to nearly 60 per cent in
district councils. Cultural and related services came in
third with around a third of respondents citing this
answer. (Table 4.2)
Around one in five councils already have a strategy in
place for young people’s public involvement, with
another 29 per cent planning to develop one.
Metropolitan and London boroughs were most likely to
have a plan already in place (45 per cent and 43 per
cent respectively) with districts being the least likely (16
per cent). (Table 4.3 overleaf)
Table 4.2: which department in your authority leads on young people’s involvement exercises?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh Unitary
All
% % % % % %Education* 67 - 62 58 57 60
Corporate Unit 47 59 31 42 29 50
Cultural & relatedservices
13 44 8 17 14 32
Social Services* 33 - 8 - 14 15
Environmental services 7 8 8 - - 6
Housing & relatedservices**
- 8 - - - 5
Base: all responding authorities (175)
* does not include district councils (base 68)
** does not include county councils (base 160)
Note columns may not total 100 per cent as in some councils there is joint responsibility for leading work.
14
Table 4.3: does your authority have a young people’s strategy?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh Unitary
All
% % % % % %Yes 25 15 43 45 20 21
No 45 55 29 35 40 49
No, but we plan todevelop a strategy in thefuture
25 29 14 20 40 29
Base: all responding authorities (226)
Nearly nine out of 10 councils who responded said that
they involved other local service providers and
voluntary groups in their work with young people. For
the metropolitan boroughs this figure rose to 100 per
cent. (Table 4.4)
Table 4.4: do you involve other local service providers and voluntary groups in your work with youngpeople?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh unitary
All
% % % % % %Yes 90 86 93 100 86 88
No - 14 7 - 9 10
Don’t know 10 1 - - 5 2
Base: all responding authorities (226)
15
Policy stage
Councils were asked to indicate the different ways in
which young people had been involved in the decision
making process. (Table 5.1)
The most popular stage at which to involve young
people is the identification of problems and issues, with
almost nine out of 10 authorities citing this response. All
London and metropolitan boroughs responding to this
question said they involved young people at this stage.
The next two most popular areas were the
development of ideas for new policies/services and for
changing existing policies/services.
Only one in four councils said they involved young
people in the delivery of services, although this figure
was much higher for London, metropolitan and unitary
authorities. Almost one in three involved young people
in monitoring and evaluating policies, a figure which
rose to 57 per cent for London boroughs and 55 per
cent for county councils.
Table 5.1: how have young people been involved in different ways in the decision making process?
Countycouncil
District council Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary &Welsh unitary
All
% % % % % %They are involved inidentifying problems/issues of concern
90 84 100 100 97 89
They are asked for ideason developing newpolicies/services
80 66 79 95 86 74
They are asked for ideason changingpolicies/services
90 56 79 80 83 67
They are involved in themonitoring or evaluating ofservices/policies
55 20 57 30 49 31
They are involved in thedelivery of services
40 11 50 50 46 25
Other 5 7 14 10 26 10
Base: all responding authorities (226)
16
Issues
Respondents were asked which issues young people
have been involved in within their authority. The
response reflects the wide range of issues that councils
are involving young people in with 94 per cent of
respondents citing youth services, and four fifths of
respondents stating education, leisure and community
safety. The issues that authorities have involved young
people in least are budget setting (nine per cent),
housing (27 per cent) and public transport (35 per
cent). (Table 6.1)
They were also asked what issues they thought it was
appropriate to involve young people in. Authorities
clearly thought that there were very few issues that it
was not appropriate to involve young people in. It is
noticeable that on the issue of budget setting councils
were not only less likely to involve young people on
this matter but also fewer respondents felt that this was
an appropriate issue for young people to influence.
Over two fifths of respondents (46 per cent) said it was
appropriate to involve young people in budget setting,
compared to 97 per cent who answered it was
appropriate to involve young people in leisure issues.
(Figure 6.1 overleaf)
Table 6.1: what issues have young people been involved in within your authority?
County council
%
Districtcouncil
%
Londonborough
%
Metrop.borough
%
Unitary and Welshauthorities%
All
%Youth services * 100 - 100 95 89 94
Education* 95 - 71 85 74 81
Leisure/recreationactivities & facilities **
- 88 88 64 66 81
Community safety 85 77 100 90 77 80
Social services* 95 - 57 60 60 79
Environment (egLocal Agenda 21initiatives)
70 64 71 60 63 65
Health issues 85 42 71 90 66 56
Public Transport* 60 - 21 35 46 35
Housing** 30 25 21 25 34 27
Budget setting 25 4 21 20 9 9
Base: all responding authorities (226)
* does not include district councils (base 89)
** does not include county councils (base 206)
17
Figure 6.1: what issues have you involved young people in/do you think it appropriate to involve youngpeople in?
0
20
40
60
80
100
Yout
h se
rvice
s *
Leisu
re/re
creation
Educ
ation
*
Commun
ity sa
fety
Socia
l ser
vices
*
Envir
onmen
tal
Healt
h issu
es
Publi
c tra
nspo
rt*
Housin
g**
Budg
et se
tting
Have been involved Appropriate to involve
Base: all responding authorities (226)
* does not include district councils (base 89)
** does not include county councils (base 206)
18
Profile of young people involved in local authority decisionmaking
Authorities were asked the ages of the young people
who are currently involved or have been involved in
their public involvement exercises. (Table 7.1) Local
authorities were most likely to involve 14-16 year olds
(93 per cent of respondents) and 17-18 year olds (86
per cent of respondents) in their decision making.
Furthermore, 85 per cent of councils said they
frequently involve 14-16 year olds and 62 per cent
said they frequently involve 17-18 year olds. Although
two in three respondents reported to have involved
10-13 year olds, only two in five said this age group
was frequently involved. (Table 7.2 overleaf)
Over one third of respondents from district councils said
they were involving young people aged 19-21,
significantly lower than other types of authorities, for
example county councils (70 per cent). One fifth of all
respondents said the involvement of 19-21 year olds
was frequent, the highest figure for this response
coming from London boroughs (36 per cent) and the
lowest coming from district councils (15 per cent).
Authorities were least likely to involve young people
aged 22-25 (28 per cent of respondents) and this
involvement was less likely to be frequent (nine per
cent of respondents).
Table 7.1: what are the ages of young people who are involved/have been involved in the authority’spublic involvement exercises?
Countycouncil
Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary and WelshAuthorities
All
% % % % % %10-13 years 70 66 64 65 63 66
14-16 years 100 89 93 95 100 93
17-18 years 95 80 100 90 97 86
19-21 years 70 37 71 80 77 52
22-25 years 35 20 57 45 37 28
Base: all responding authorities (226)
19
Table 7.2: which of the following age groups are most frequently involved in the authority’s publicinvolvement activities?
Countycouncil
Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary and WelshAuthorities
All
% % % % % %10-13 years 40 45 21 30 34 40
14-16 years 100 82 71 95 86 85
17-18 years 70 53 57 80 86 62
19-21 years 25 15 36 25 29 20
22-25 years 5 8 29 10 9 9
Base: all responding authorities (226)
20
Hard to reach young people
Respondents were asked which excluded groups of
young people have been reached through
involvement exercises. A total of 157 authorities
responded that they involve one or more excluded
groups. (Table 8.1)
Nine out of 10 metropolitan boroughs responded that
they have involved young people from different ethnic
minority communities in their decisions, perhaps a
reflection of the ethnic diversity within their populations.
It is perhaps not surprising that district councils have
recorded low figures for involving certain excluded
groups, for example looked after young people, as
they do not have responsibility for education, social
services and youth services.
Those excluded groups least likely to be involved in
involvement activities were: young travellers (nine per
cent); gay and lesbian young people and homeless
young people (both 18 per cent).
Table 8.1: Which of the following excluded groups listed below have you involved in public involvementexercises?
Countycouncil
Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary andWelsh Authorities
All
% % % % % %Young people who areexcluded from school
70 26 50 80 49 40
Looked after youngpeople
95 15 57 85 74 40
Young people from ethnicminority groups
65 25 64 90 40 39
Young offenders 65 25 50 70 51 38
Young people who aredisabled
65 22 29 80 54 36
Young carers 65 8 21 50 43 23
Gay and lesbian youngpeople
45 6 21 40 37 18
Homeless young people 25 12 7 35 31 18
Young travellers 35 5 7 10 9 9
Base: all responding authorities (226)
21
Recruitment
The survey results suggest that local authorities are
using a wide range of methods to recruit young people
for involvement initiatives. (Table 9.1)
Nearly nine out of 10 authorities responded that they
contact young people through youth and community
groups and through schools, with over 90 per cent
reporting that contact is through youth services.
County councils were most likely to have contacted
young people for involvement exercises through
referrals from other departments and through youth
services, 100 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.
Over one third of authorities responded that they
contacted young people using advertising or word of
mouth – this figure rising to 50 per cent in metropolitan
boroughs.
Only 18 per cent of authorities said they contacted
young people through market research techniques.
London boroughs and district councils recorded the
lowest figures and county councils the highest.
Table 9.1: how do you contact people to be involved in local authority involvement exercises?
Countycouncil
Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary and Welshauthorities
All
% % % % % %Through the work ofyouth services
100 - 86 90 94 93
Through existing youthand community groups
100 84 93 95 34 89
Through schools 90 88 64 90 97 89
Through advertising orword of mouth
35 33 36 50 43 36
Through referrals fromauthority departments
65 7 29 35 29 20
Through marketresearch
35 13 7 30 29 19
Base: all responding authorities (226)
22
Methods
Councils were asked to indicate the different methods
they have used to involve young people in decisions.
(Table 10.1 overleaf)
Three quarters of councils responding said they use
youth forums/councils to involve young people in
decisions – this figure rose to 86 per cent for unitary
and Welsh unitary authorities and 90 per cent for
metropolitan boroughs. Metropolitan boroughs and
county councils were most likely to use focus groups
(76 per cent and 70 per cent respectively) with the
districts being the least likely (37 per cent).
Four fifths of county councils responded that they
involve young people through use of service
satisfaction surveys. Metropolitan boroughs and
unitary and welsh unitary authorities were most likely to
use peer led research techniques and London
boroughs least likely.
Overall the survey reveals the broad range of
mechanisms used by authorities to involve young
people in their decisions. Councils were least likely to
use referendums (three per cent), citizens’ juries (five
per cent) and visioning techniques (18 per cent).
The survey asked authorities to indicate other
mechanisms that they use to engage young people in
local democracy. Over half of authorities (56 per cent)
said their officers and/or members visit schools to
discuss the work of local authorities, the highest figure
for this response coming from district councils (64 per
cent). (Table 10.2)
Six out of 10 responding (excluding district councils)
said they were preparing materials or working with
schools to help them deliver aspects of the citizenship
education curriculum - this figure rising to 70 per cent in
county councils. One quarter of authorities said they
have initiated voting campaigns targeted at young
people aged 18 and over. Nearly half of authorities
(48 per cent) said they have hosted different activities,
such as debating competitions, to increase
understanding about councils.
23
Table 10.1: which of the following methods do you use to involve young people in decisions?
Countycouncil
Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary andWelshAuthorities
All
% % % % % %Youth forums/councils 80 70 79 90 86 76
Youth conferences 70 45 63 75 69 54
Service satisfaction surveys 80 39 50 70 63 50
Focus groups 70 38 64 80 60 50
Consultation documents 50 40 58 70 57 47
Young people carry outresearch among their peers
60 37 21 75 69 46
Public meetings 45 33 43 60 46 39
Question & answer sessions 35 31 50 70 43 38
Service user forums 55 16 57 55 49 31
Complaints/suggestionschemes
30 22 43 55 40 30
Interactive website and e-mail 40 27 29 25 40 30
Citizens Panel 30 23 43 40 37 29
Co-option/ committeeinvolvement
30 19 36 70 46 29
Issue forums 35 18 21 40 46 26
Other opinion polls 15 20 29 50 23 23
Visioning exercise 15 20 7 20 14 18
Citizens juries 10 4 7 - 6 5
Referendums - 2 7 5 3 3
Base: all responding authorities (226)
24
Table 10.2: what are the other ways in which your authority engages young people in democracy?
County council Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary andWelshauthorities
All
% % % % % %Officers/councillors visitschools
35 64 21 45 54 56
Hosted activities such asdebates, competitions,quizzes
40 40 57 75 66 48
Promote volunteeringopportunities to youngpeople
60 24 64 75 57 40
Currently developingmaterials for schools
70 22 64 50 63 38
Initiated programmes/information campaigns toencourage voting
15 26 29 25 29 25
Produce curriculumstimulus materials forschools
30 15 29 40 34 22
25
Support and training
IPPR’s research on young people’s involvement in
decision making has so far identified the importance of
training or induction programmes for young people
taking part in involvement initiatives. To this end,
respondents were asked whether participants undergo
training prior to or as part of involvement initiatives to
develop their skills, knowledge and confidence to take
part.
Forty three per cent of authorities said that they
provide training for participants. District councils
showed the lowest level of training for young people at
27 per cent and County councils the highest at 75 per
cent. (Table 11.1)
Table 11.1: when involving young people in authority decisions, do participants undergo trainingprior to, or as part of, the initiative to develop their skills, knowledge and confidence to take part?
County council Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary andWelsh Authorities
All
% % % % % %Yes 75 27 71 70 60 43No 15 58 14 25 31 45Don’t know/no
answer
10 15 14 5 9 12
Base: all responding authorities (226)
IPPR’s research suggests that adults may need to
undertake training to improve dialogue with young
people. Authorities were asked if they provide officers
and members with support or training on involving
young people in decisions. One in four councils
provide training to staff. County councils and
metropolitans were most likely to have training for staff
in place (80 per cent and 70 per cent respectively).
(Table 11.2 overleaf)
However, authorities were much less likely to provide
elected members with training on involving young
people in decisions – 12 per cent of respondents. For
unitary and Welsh unitary authorities this figure rose to
20 per cent. (Table 11.3 overleaf)
26
Table 11.2: does your authority provide staff support or training on involving young people in exercises?
County council Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary and Welshauthorities
All
% % % % % %Yes 80 28 43 70 54 41No 10 63 43 15 37 49Don’t know/no answer 10 10 14 15 9 10Base: all responding authorities (226)
Table 11.3: does your authority provide members support or training on involving young people inexercises?
County council District
council
London
borough
Metrop.
borough
Unitary and Welsh
authorities
All
% % % % % %Yes 15 10 7 20 20 12No 35 70 64 50 63 64Don’t know/no answer 50 20 29 30 17 24Base: all responding authorities (226)
27
Evaluation
Less than one in three authorities responded that they
evaluate the impact of initiatives involving young
people in decisions. For county councils this figure
increased to 55 per cent. For those carrying out
evaluations, the most popular methods were written
questionnaires (69 per cent of respondents) followed
by focus groups of young people involved (56 per
cent). Almost one in four authorities evaluated their
initiatives by interviewing the young people involved or
through staff observing group processes.
Table 12.1: has your authority evaluated the impact of initiatives involving young people in decisionmaking?
County council Districtcouncil
Londonborough
Metrop.borough
Unitary and Welshauthorities
All
% % % % % %Yes 55 23 29 35 37 29No 35 73 64 60 57 66Don’t know/ no
answer
10 4 7 5 6 5
Base: all responding authorities 226
It is very noticeable that although 77 per cent of
authorities are currently working with young people to
involve them in decisions, only 30 per cent are
evaluating the process and impact of this involvement.
This finding mirrors other surveys and research that
shows the remarkable uptake in local government of
innovative and deliberative approaches to public
involvement has not been adequately accompanied by
formal mechanisms for evaluation. If authorities are to
learn from the experience of involving young people in
decisions, it is vital that they introduce a framework for
evaluating public involvement.
LGA code F/SRO39
ISBN 1 84049 254 6
234
For further information, please contact
the Local Government Association at:
Local Government House,
Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ
Telephone 020 7664 3000
Fax 020 7664 3030
Website www.lga.gov.uk
or telephone our general information hotline on020 7664 3131
For news and informationabout local government:visit www.local-government.net
Institute for Public Policy Research
30-32 Southampton Street
London WC2E 7RA
Telephone 020 7470 6100
Fax 020 7470 6111
Website www.ippr.org.uk