Young people tell us that they don’t know enough about the way that our political systems work as they do not have access to political education in a set curriculum at school. Having a good political education is empowering, even life changing. Young people are the future in the world of politics, so why deny them a head start? Chloe Brown from Kirklees Youth Council gave this Lightning talk at Notwestminster 2016, Saturday 13th February in Huddersfield. Find out more at: www.notwestminster.org.uk

1. DevelopingYouthVoice
in Kirklees
Political Education, Powerful Not Pointless

2. What is KirkleesYouth Council?
• We are a non-partisan group of young people from
across Kirklees.
• We are principally interested in involving young
people in the political process.
• We are an open organisation – we accept anyone
who wants to join and anyone may speak at our
meetings.

3. Youth Forums Pilot Programme
• In 2015 we rolled out an educational project at
secondary schools in Kirklees.
• This project was focused on providing young
people with information on local decision making.
• We gathered information on the concerns of young
people and barriers to their political involvement.
• In concluding the project we set up youth forums
at participating schools.

4. Youth Forums Pilot Programme
• The delivery of the project’s content was
conducted in four stages:
1. Identify young people’s existing political knowledge,
identify local issues for youth and identify barriers to
their participation in local decision making.
2. Educate young people in the structure and process of
local decision making.
3. Provide young people with skills to understand and
represent issues faced by peers and identify key, local
decision makers.
4. Provide accreditation for young people and plan steps
in formation of a local youth forum.

5. Our Findings
• We asked the people involved in the project three
main questions:
1. Who makes decisions for you?
2. Who can you influence?
3. What stops you from sharing your ideas and
solutions?

6. Who makes decisions for you?
1. Parents
2. School/Teachers
3. Me
4. Family
5. Parliament
6. Friends
7. Prime Minister
8. The Queen
9. The Council
10. MPs
11. Clubs/Groups
12. Councillors
13. Adults
14. Social media

7. Who can you influence?
1. Friends
2. Family
3. School/Teachers
4. Parents
5. Younger generation
6. Students
7. Parliament
8. Me
9. Siblings
10. Community
11. Social media
12. Group/Club
13. Pets/Animals
14. School Council
15. The Council
16. Councillors

8. What stops you from sharing
your ideas and solutions?
1. Confidence
2. Fear
3. Family
4. Age
5. Friends
6. People not listening
7. No
support/opportunity
8. Consequences
9. Teachers
10. Reputation
11. Don’t know who to
talk to
12. Nothing
13. Adults

9. Conclusions
• Young people do not consider the actions of
government to affect decisions made about their
lives.
• Young people do not believe that they have a
strong influence on the decisions made by national
or local government.
• The factors limiting the involvement of young
people in parts of the deliberative process that
they can access are lack of confidence and fear (of
physical harm by others, judgement, failure and
not being taken seriously.)

10. Solutions
• De-mystification of government information
sources and legislation
• Government reports should be written in the plainest
possible English while still retaining their full meaning.
• Laws and changes to laws should also be written in this
way.

11. Solutions
• Consistent, thorough, non-partisan political
education
• Young people must be aware from the start of their
education that they are citizens of a state, with rights
and responsibilities.
• They must be aware of how the deliberative element is
structured and how they can influence it, locally and
nationally.
• They must be taught about the services the
government provides, in what areas the government
provides support, and the duties of government in
regards to administration and raising revenue.

12. Solutions
• Visible elected officials
• Councillors and MPs should conduct regular visits to all
schools in their local area so they become familiar to
and with young people in their constituency.
• During these visits developments in local and national
government should be discussed with emphasis on
those that affect young people.