Agenda item

RESOLVED:

·       To provide opportunities for a small number of Young Advisors to attend and participate in each of the Committee’s meetings and encourage other Select Committees to do so.

·       To refer to the Mayor and Cabinet a recommendation that the feasibility of the suggestions at section 7 of the report be explored and reported back to the Committee.

Witnesses

Katy Brown, Advisor to the Young Mayor, Access Inclusion and Participation
Jacob Sakil, Youth Support Worker, Young Mayor’s Team
Susan Rowe, Lewisham Education Group and Lewisham Black Parent Forum
Jentai Gen-One, Lewisham Young Mayor
Micah Spence, Young Advisor
Connor Moore, Young Advisor
Kehinde Onasanya, Young Advisor
Yasmina Bez, Young Advisor
Morgan Seward, Young Advisor
Shianti Elliott, Young Advisor
Emmerson Sutton, Young Advisor
Marvin Gordon, Young Advisor
Anissa Bez, Young Advisor
Gideon Ofoni- Owusu, Young Advisor

Katy Brown and Jacob Sakil introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

4.1. Young people and staff were keen that the engagement of young people be viewed through the lens of citizenship, with young people as cocreators of services.

4.2. The breadth of the work undertaken by the Young Mayor and Advisors was a strength, but the council should think about how it could amplify that work and involve young people further.

4.3. There were other youth organisations in the borough with which the council could engage.

4.4. Young people developing agency was integral to them being part of civil society and the community and involved in work of the council. The extent of the council’s engagement with young people was unique.

Young Advisors then shared their views with the Committee:

4.5. Micah Spence explained that a new approach was to engage more young people as Young Advisors by updating and making better use of social media. His view was that, aside from Young Mayor elections, the council’s social media did not feature young people enough; the council could help by using its social media channels to promote the work of the Young Mayor and Advisors. Connor Moore added that social media structures favoured certain types of content – YouTube’s algorithm promoted videos with human faces in the thumbnail, for example – and the council should consider how to maximise the reach of its content.

4.6. Kehinde Onasanya noted that a quarter of Lewisham residents were aged 0-19 and thus a large proportion attended school. They suggested that schools were therefore a good way to reach a large proportion of residents; they had only become aware of work of Young Advisors when standing for Young Mayor and believed it was important to communicate to young the people the choices and options they had.

4.7. Morgan Seward, a Mayor’s Award nominee, was a member of Champions of Inclusion, a subgroup of Young Advisors which worked with schools and Kaleidoscope to provide a forum for young people with SEND to share their views and ideas. The council could help by organising more events for young people with SEND, who needed a greater focus year-round, not just during Autism Acceptance Week.

4.8. Shanti Elliott highlighted the importance of career pathways in a variable labour market. She had transitioned from being a Young Advisor to a Council apprentice, which they described as invaluable. They submitted that the Council and its partners needed to make such opportunities more widely available as their experience was atypical. She further noted the value of Curriculum for Life.

Bryan Strom joined at 19:33.

4.9.Emerson Sutton, who had been a Young Advisor since the age of 9, described their role as an enlightening one. They wanted to enter politics and were interested to learn about how things worked/operated. Surveys they had conducted in schools found many young people were interested in careers in law or politics, but pathways were not set out for/promoted to them. They submitted that it was not just young people’s voices, but also their ideas which required amplification. Kehinde later noted there were insufficient opportunities for young people to become involved in politics. The Chair added that political parties needed to engage and involve young people more.

The Chair adjourned the meeting at 19:40 due to technical issues. The meeting resumed at 19:41.

4.10. Yasmina Bez noted that lots of external places (e.g. shops and cafes) were not accessible, which needed to be addressed. Noting that the report stated young people could speak to councillors and senior officers, they wanted to discuss the accessibility of non-council venues with a senior officer as it appeared to them that the council was not doing enough to improve accessibility in the borough. This was an example of how other directorates could engage with young people about issues of interest and concern.

4.11. Marvin Gordon explained that young people in the care system, who could be frequently moved around, needed to be introduced to opportunities to have their voice heard, such as the Young Mayor and Advisor roles. He did not believe that such opportunities were promoted to looked-after children in a targeted manner.

4.12. Jentai Gen-One, Lewisham Young Mayor, suggested the council should go to Young People rather than the other way around, e.g. by holding ‘Question Time’ panels in schools or talking to young people on the streets.

4.13. Susan Rowe, Lewisham Education Group and Lewisham Black Parent Forum, congratulated the work of the Young Mayor and Advisors. Noting the interesting, young and diverse nature of Lewisham, she submitted that the borough needed to become the tech hub of London. The Lewisham Education Group was developing a careers forum and Susan had recently discussed tech career paths with industry executives in America. There was a large number of high-skilled vacancies in the tech industry and companies were engaging young staff in high-paying roles. Tech companies were offering accredited training which could lead to employment. She suggested that the Council review whether appropriate tech pathways were available via further education providers.

RESOLVED

·       To provide opportunities for a small number of Young Advisors to attend and participate in each of the Committee’s meetings and encourage other Select Committees to do so.

·       To refer to the Mayor and Cabinet a recommendation that the feasibility of the suggestions at section 7 of the report be explored and reported back to the Committee.

ACTIONS

·       Committee to refer Yasmina’s concerns to the Cabinet Member for Business, Jobs and Skills.