Agenda item

Question a. Young Mayor Darey to Councillor Watts, Leader of the Council

What does Cllr Watts think will be the impact on young people living in London following the election of the new London Mayor?

Reply:

Thank you for your question and welcome to you and your Youth Council colleagues.  The election of Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London is a ray of light in an otherwise cloudy sky.  It made me proud to be a Londoner and that we have our first Muslim mayor is a fantastic statement.  The population of London is very young – approximately 25% of the population is aged between 25 and 34 and the Mayor needs to pay special attention to the needs of young people; to housing, schools and safety. 

We need more genuinely affordable housing; private housing is unaffordable and there is a long wait for social housing.  Sadiq is committed to appointing serious people to get things done.  It won’t be easy, but I have every confidence in him. 

London’s schools are the most improved in the developed world over the last 10 years, but with colleges, skills and training for jobs we need to do a lot of work and the Mayor can make a big difference.

With regard to safety, the Mayor has oversight of the Metropolitan Police.  We are feeling the loss of the neighbourhood police teams here; it’s harder for the community to build a relationship.  I am looking forward to Sadiq keeping the manifesto commitment to bring them back.  We do also need to look at tackling crime differently, and stop looking at different types of crime, but at the people involved. 

We need to work with the Mayor to find money to ensure high quality services for young people across London.  We are the only Council which has protected funding for Youth Services.

Question b.  Youth Councillor  & Member of the Youth Parliament Mohamed to Councillor Caluori, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families:

Crime and gang related violence continue to be of concern for Islington’s young people. The IYC recognises that the police and its school engagement team are running a series of Safer School roadshows, What else is being done by the police and the council to address these concerns?

Reply:

Thank you for your question.  I am happy to say that between April and June we have seen some reductions, but we can’t become complacent.  There are three things that I think will help.  The Integrated Gangs Team is fully up and running now and they offer interventions, including accommodation, drugs treatment and counselling and work with the whole family.  We are also focussing on schools, with the Violence and Gangs education programme which highlights the dangers of crime, gangs and carrying knives and focuses on personal safety.  To date there have been over 160 sessions in schools.  The number of schools attending the Ben Kinsella exhibition at Finsbury Library has also increased.  Finally, we have committed £500K to mentoring projects for young people.  Some children as young as 7 years old are in danger of bring sucked into gang culture and this project will help prevent that happening.

We will keep working with you; we need you to help us shape these services to make sure that we are going the right thing.

Question c.  Youth Councillor Miriam’s question to Councillor Caluori, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families was asked by Deputy Young Mayor Diana Paniagua in her absence:

As a result of Scottish legislation as of April 2016, 16 and 17 year olds were given the right to vote in the Scottish Parliament election. How can Islington Council support the IYC to promote this concept locally in order that young people are given the vote in London?

Reply:

Thank you for your question.  I saw you at the hustings at City and Islington College the day before the EU Referendum and you spoke with really clear passion.  The conversations I have had with young people before and since have bought home to me how unjust it is that young people can’t vote on issues that affect their future.  I think that 16 is a completely sensible time.  The Labour Party policy is to extend voting to 16 year olds, but the government do not agree.  It is unsustainable that you can vote in Scotland at 16 and not in England and the inconsistency must be addressed.  Maybe we could jointly write to the Prime Minister?  We also need to make sure that people who are eligible can vote and to improve education about politics generally.  This is a very important time for young people to make their voice heard and I will happily do anything we can to get the situation rectified.

Question d. Youth Councillor Honey to Councillor Shaikh, Executive Member for Economic Development:

What can be done to improve information about apprenticeships in our schools/colleges to increase awareness that apprenticeships are a pathway on par with those that are academic?

Reply:

Thank you for your question.  It raises a really important issue.  We recognise the importance of apprenticeship opportunities for young people. The iWork Youth Employment Team have been working on careers and apprenticeship workshops.  The workshops in schools highlight different types of apprenticeships and show young people alternatives to academic pathways.  The feedback from schools is that more pupils are now aware.  It is important that we put forward the offer at the same time as students are choosing college or university and it’s really important to get parents and teachers on board.  The Youth Team have attended a number of parents evenings to raise awareness and have also done staff training at some schools.  That said we do realise that we can do much more and will be extending apprenticeship support across all schools this year.  We are also encouraging role models to go to schools to share their experience and will be developing a social media strategy and supporting teachers more.  In partnership with City and Islington College we have got some funding to hold more workshops too.  We will continue to reach out and would appreciate meeting with you to see what you think we could do better.