Agenda item

To consider the report of the Head of Locality Partnerships that provides the Committee with an update on the Youth Activity Fund consultation with children and young people. The consultation aims to inform the Community Committee’s Youth Activity Fund spend for the 2021/22 financial year.

The report also provides the Committee with reflections from the last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that this has presented Community Committees, the Communities Team and youth activity providers.

(Report attached)

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships provided the Community Committee with the background and context on the decision not to have a youth summit in 2020/21.

The report provided the Community Committee with an update on the Youth Activity Fund consultation with children and young people. The consultation had been held with the aim to inform the Community Committee’s Youth Activity Fund spend for the 2021/22 financial year.

It had been the plan to deliver the Youth Summits virtually this year, to ensure that events could still go ahead even with Covid restrictions. However, with the lockdown in December 2020, and with schools closed until 8^th March 2021, even virtual Youth Summits were not possible. Therefore, it was proposed that an online consultation survey would be produced to capture feedback on how children and young people wished to see the Youth Activity Fund spend in their area.

The consultation survey was promoted from Monday 15^th February 2021 until Friday 30^th April. Promotion of the survey was publicised widely across the Inner East Community Committee area, and information was posted on the Community Committee Facebook page, and publicity sent out to school & cluster contacts, youth groups and other funded organisations that work with young people.

The Inner East Community Committee received 289 responses to the Youth Activity Fund survey.

The survey recorded that children and young people from the Inner East Community Committee area suggested the following:

·  Activities to be offered in venues such as community centres, youth clubs and sport centres as well as activities delivered outdoors.

·  Activities to take place after school, in the evenings and on the weekend with some holiday camps.

·  Activities are inclusive of friendship groups and refreshments are available and supported by good quality staff.

·  Popular activities included, Sport Clubs such as Rugby and Football, Youth Club based activity, Cooking and Dance.

Member’s discussed the following matters:

·  To ensure children with disabilities are not excluded from the survey responses.

·  To receive a breakdown in relation to the number of survey responses per ward – it was confirmed this will be provided to members outside of the meeting.

·  To consider appointing children from each ward to the Children and Young Peoples Sub Group – it was confirmed that the Inner West Community Committee have recruited young people to gain representation from young people, and methods on how they did that, will be fed back to members.

RESOLVED – To note:

a)  Reflections from the last 12 months during the pandemic.

b)  Details of the Youth Activity Fund consultation survey.

c)  That the Youth Activity Fund survey informs the Community Committee’s Youth Activity Fund for 2021/22.

d)  That any projects funded by the Community Committee from the Youth Activity Fund focus on the themes and activity priorities identified in the Youth Activity fund consultation survey.

e)  That the Communities Team arrange a physical Youth Summit with young people this financial year, 2021/22 and that this informs the Youth Activity Fund spend for 2022/23.