Agenda item

Question (a) from Youth Councillor Rosie to Councillor Comer-Schwartz, Executive Member for Children, Schools and Families

We hosted a community engagement event with the Somali Community following the tragic death of 2 young Somali adult men. The event was attended by over 50 people including many young people and Council Leaders and the Borough Commander. What else can be done to reassure all young people in the borough who may be feeling unsafe that their safety is a priority?

Response:

Thank you for asking that important question. We were devastated to learn of the tragic deaths earlier this year. My heart goes out to their families, friends and the wider Somali community. I want to reassure young people that keeping them safe is a priority for me and for the Council. We have made significant steps forward in our Youth Safety work over recent years, and the number of knife crime injuries for victims under 25 have fallen by more than 46% from 2017. However, one young person affected by knife crime is one too many, and we know we have more work to do. Prevention and early intervention is key. We are one of the first councils in the country to approach youth safety from a safeguarding perspective, recognising that many offenders have experienced childhood trauma, discrimination and exploitation. We see young people involved in crime as children first. Exploitation and county lines are all child protection issues and we know that family circumstances and school exclusion can often lead to contact with the youth justice system. We know there are viable routes out of crime and we must do more to make sure of that young people can access them. This is why we have our Youth Offending service, our Integrated Gangs Team, our Targeted Youth Service and Post-16 Progression Service, as well as third sector agencies such as Arsenal in the Community and Abianda to support vulnerable young people and wrap-around them to reduce the risk of school exclusion and to create opportunities for them. The Youth Strategy is the next step in the Council’s work to keep young people safe. The strategy will help us to identify the young people who need more support, we are working with the violence reduction unit to help parents and carers to keep their children safe and to reduce inequality and disproportionality as part of this. 

Supplementary Question:

You talked about trying to find the root of the problem and the amazing resources that are available to support young people. How would you make sure that you are getting to the right group of young people, or finding them at the right time? Could you please talk more about how you are going to engage with them?

Response:

You are correct, we need to do all we can to make contact with the right groups of young people as early as possible, as the consequences can be fatal as we know. We need everyone in the borough to do this work, which is why we need to work with schools, youth centres, and young people themselves so they can refer their friends and other young people they are worried about. It’s why we need to work with parents and families to build their confidence in raising issues. We need a whole borough approach to keeping young people safe.

Question (b) from Youth Councillor Rosie to Councillor Comer-Schwartz, Executive Member for Children, Schools and Families

We have been working with Commissioning Managers from the Play and Youth service, regarding the future of universal youth work in Islington. This has included taking part in consultations and providing 2 researchers with a guided tour of the borough to show Islington through the eyes of you people. Will the council continue to invest in youth spaces and places which support young people’s personal development and provision which helps young people to thrive?

Response:

Thank you for your question and your brilliant work on leading and supporting the review of our universal youth work. Over the last 8 weeks we have engaged with over 250 residents and held in-depth conversations with 65 young people, held a series of focus groups with 12 young people, both those engaged currently and those not engaged in our youth offer. This has helped to shape our plans for youth work going forward. We will be holding an event in January where we will share feedback from this work and I hope that the Youth Council will be able to attend. In the meantime, despite central government cuts, I want to assure you that we will continue to invest in spaces and services for our young people. As we learn from the review, I am confident that we will see even more young people benefitting from youth work in our borough. This is important as we continue to work to our aspiration to make Islington the best place to grow up.

Supplementary Question:

Youth clubs have been running activities around the Black Lives Matter movement and educating young people about black culture. What steps are being taken to incorporate that into schools in Islington?

Response:

I was really glad to join you and other young people to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement recently. This year has been a crucial year for our race equality work following the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in America. We have been working on race equality action plans across the council and reviewing our work, and this is also the case in Children’s Services, from social care to education, and our youth justice system, reviewing if we can do more to support young people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. We are looking to develop a strategy and action plans, which will include doing more in the education system. Our key concern in that area is the difference in attainment rates, disproportionate rates of exclusions, and the importance of having resilient and confident young people. We are also looking to develop a cultural curriculum so we can support all of our schools. Lots of schools have already done amazing work in this space, but we want to make sure that all schools are fully supporting all pupils, especially ethnic minorities in Islington. 

Question (c) from Youth Councillor Rosie to Cllr Turan, Executive Member for Health and Care

It has been widely reported in the media that the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have had an adverse impact on the emotional wellbeing of young people. We have been using our social media tools to promote mental health apps, and created videos to support young people. What plans does the council have in place to support young people’s emotional and mental health both now and in the future? This is particularly important as we could see mental health needs spike in the next 12 months and beyond.

Response:

Thank you for your question. This issue is very close to my heart, having worked in the NHS and mental health services for almost 22 years. As part of our commitment to make Islington the best possible place to grow up, we must do everything we can to support the wellbeing and mental health of young people in our borough. The Council works closely with health colleagues in the CCG and in CAMHS as well as with the voluntary sector to ensure there is good support for young people’s emotional and mental health and to plan for future needs, both to maintain wellbeing and to ensure more help is available to those that need it. 

Building awareness and understanding of mental health, and tackling the stigma around mental illness are vital to ensure that young people access support early and without embarrassment. Islington provides free mental health awareness training to anyone working with young people, including youth workers and school staff, to ensure that they can spot emerging problems and signpost to support.

Our work during the pandemic, as well as before and after it, includes working together with schools to meet the needs of young people at this time, the Social, Emotional and Mental Health central point of access continues to act as a first port of call, with referrals being passed on to the most appropriate service for support, and CAMHS continues to be funded to work in schools.

We have also established a new School Wellbeing Service which will provide additional capacity and be rolled out to work with all mainstream schools in early 2021. The Service provides early access to support for children and families experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties and offers CBT-based 1:1 and group work around anxiety and low mood, as well as psychoeducation for children, young people and parents.

Question (d) from Youth Councillor Kacper to Cllr Shaikh, Executive Member for Inclusive Economy and Jobs

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns have resulted in the employment opportunities for young people being reduced, particularly within the retail and hospitality sectors which offer part time work to young people. What plans does the council have to help young people find employment during this time?

Response:

Thank you for your question and for highlighting this important issue. Supporting young people into decent jobs and training opportunities is a top priority for Islington Council, and is more important than ever, as the impact of the pandemic on local job opportunities, and how young people are disproportionately affected, means we are facing a scale of youth unemployment that is unprecedented in recent years. Young people claiming unemployment benefits has more than doubled since lockdown started.

The Council is responding to this situation by providing direct support to young people in a number of ways. Firstly, the council is providing support through the new youth employability and skills programme. This is a new programme of work that aims to support young people aged 18 to 25 who are either care leavers, have experience of the youth justice system, or who have been identified by our partners as being vulnerable to unemployment. It’s going to provide 1:1 coaching, skills tuition and work experience. Secondly, our Progress Team are expert career advisers who can provide 1:1 support for young people who aren’t in education or employment. Another way is through our iWork employment support service. This offers coaching for any resident who is over 18, as well as general advice on how to find work and make a job application. The iWork team has strong links with health and social care and construction employers and over the past couple of years has strengthened our relationships with tech, digital, fashion and garment making sectors. Those sectors have been less impacted by Covid, are still recruiting, and really want to work with young people to make those sectors more attractive for them. The iWork team also runs virtual job fairs, we also have an online jobs portal where we connect with employers and direct young people to those vacancies.

We are also using the government’s Kickstart programme. The Council is creating twenty 6 month paid work placements for 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit. We are going to strengthen our apprenticeship programme for young people. We also convene borough-wide to engage with our partners that provide employment support for young people. It’s a team Islington holistic approach. I’d offer to meet with the youth councillors, I’d welcome the opportunity to give you a far more detailed update and I think we’d really appreciate some feedback on what we may be missing out on and how we can improve our service. Thank you again for this important question.