Agenda item

Question 1 Youth Councillor Christiane Pangula to Councillor Richard Watts, Leader of the Council.

What is the Council doing to encourage young people to register to vote and to engage with the upcoming election?

Reply:

Thank you for your very important and timely question.  The Government has introduced a significant change to our electoral system, by requiring individual voter registration.  Nationally one billion people have been lost from the electoral register and this has created real challenges for the Council, especially regarding young people.  We are working with the University and Colleges and student unions to encourage everyone to register.  The Electoral Services team here do a very good job and are putting in a lot of time and effort.  I would also ask our Youth Councillors to do their bit and spread the word as well. 

Question 2 Youth Councillor Abu Mensah to Councillor Asima Shaikh, Executive Member for Economic and Community Development. 

How many apprenticeships have been created in Islington Council over the last year? If you were in Parliament, what would you do to support young people into apprenticeships?

Reply:

Thank you for your question, especially as it relates to one of our key priorities.  45 Apprenticeships have been created and we are committed to create 200 by 2018.  We launched the apprenticeship scheme in 2009 and pay participants the London Living Wage.  Of the 45 apprentices we currently have, more than half are from BAME backgrounds.  The apprenticeships give people valuable experience and some have gained permanent employment with the Council.  We are very committed and doing all we can, but we need to get government to do much more; we want to see every company getting a government contract providing apprenticeships.

Question 3 Youth Councillor Taiga Asada to Councillor Richard Watts, Leader of the Council.

We were told that Islington has been recognised by Stonewall as an excellent employer for LGBT staff. Why do you think it has improved so much, moving from 66^th in 2014 to 13^th in 2015?

Reply:

Thank you for your question.  We are very proud to be in the top fifteen employers.  Islington has a reputation as a tolerant and diverse borough and there are two or three things we do here which do make a difference.  We support the staff forum and hold the History Months, but we can do more; we are very clear that where discrimination still exists we will do more to combat it.  We were very proud to fly the LGBT and Transgender flags and we were the first council in the country to host a gay marriage, which was an honour to attend.  We will continue to fight for equality across the borough.

Question 4 Youth Councillor Tanjina Uddin to Councillor Janet Burgess, Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing. 

The Youth Council recognises the importance of local health services. What is the Council doing to raise awareness of these services among young people and how are these services engaging with schools?

Reply

Thank you for your question.  I am very pleased you are interested in health services as it is very important for young people to be fully engaged.  We have school nursing services at all primary and secondary schools, raising health awareness and supplying immunisation screening.  The health team also work to develop the skills of school staff particularly in relation to sexual health, relationships, alcohol and smoking cessation and we are committed to improving mental health support, especially in secondary schools. We also have weight management services and an oral health programme in primary schools.  For older young people LIFT and Platform and a number of other partners offer a range of services and we have a Youth Health Forum and Youth Health Trainer projects to help raise awareness. There is a lot going on and I would be happy to meet you to discuss it further.