Wolverhampton - A city fit for young people?
Released 13 June 2007
Young people in Wolverhampton are being asked about what they think about living and growing up in the city.
‘Wolverhampton – a city fit for young people?’ is the theme of a scrutiny review which is seeking to find out what young people up to the age of 16 think will make Wolverhampton a city that offers them something to do, somewhere to go and someone to talk to.
Nearly 300 responses have already been received since February 2007 from initial work on the review, which has included a wide distribution of information to young people through their schools, via the Youth Council and ‘Krash’ magazine, giving them the opportunity to complete a postal questionnaire.
The questionnaire asks participants to name one thing they like about living in Wolverhampton, one thing they don’t and one thing they would like to change about the city to make it a better place for young people in the future.
Now the questionnaire is online at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/youngcity for young people to have their say and they can also give their views via the youngcity@wolverhampoton.gov.uk email address. Eventually there will be a ‘top ten’ table showing the things young people like, don’t like and would like to change about Wolverhampton on the website.
A prize of £50 worth of Waterstones book vouchers is on offer to the young person who comes up with the best suggestion to improve Wolverhampton and their idea will be the subject of further investigation to see if it can be practically realised.
Combined with findings from the Vision 2020 consultation with young people conducted last year, the review will provide a snapshot view of the current situation in meeting the needs of young people as they expressed them during that exercise.
The starting point of the review is based on an agenda set by young people themselves about issues relevant to them, not one decided by the council or other people who work with or support young people.
Examples of the types of questions the review will try to answer are: what ideas do young people themselves have for dealing with the issues they’re concerned about; how effective are the current consultation methods for capturing the different voices of young people; and what more should be done to get more young people involved in decisions that affect them.
Information from the review will be used to produce a report detailing the topics of concern to young people and to prepare a ‘young people’s manifesto’ listing issues highlighted by young people which are important to them and the changes they would like to see happen in the future.
The report will also identify questions for agencies which already work with young people to respond to.
The report will detail recommendations and the ways in which how they can be implemented and ideas for checking that progress is being made in meeting the aim of delivering the best possible outcomes for children and young people in Wolverhampton.
The findings of the review will be presented to the new Cabinet Member for Children and Yong People, Councillor Paula Brookfield, who coincidentally originally led the review in her former scrutiny role.
“It is important that our young people feel they are genuinely listened to, that their opinions count for something and that they have a real opportunity to shape Wolverhampton’s future”, explained Councillor Brookfield.
Anyone wanting further information about the review or to obtain a copy of the questionnaire can contact Scrutiny Officer Earl Piggott-Smith on Wolverhampton 01902 551251 or at his earl.piggott-smith@wolverhampton.gov.uk email address.
The original inspiration for the current review arose from an interest by Councillor Paula Brookfield during her scrutiny role, in finding out young people’s experiences of living in Wolverhampton and the extent to which service providers were listening and responding to their needs.
The findings of the review will help to provide a picture of progress being made to achieving the six key outcomes for the city, as detailed in the Vision 2020 report. The results f the Vision 2020 was based on work done in 2005 to find out what kind of city people wanted to live in, in the future.
The process involved collecting evidence from the public and also representatives of the different local agencies working with the council to help create a modern vibrant city.
Issued by the press office.