Joint Cabinet - SYP candidates alongside 100 North Ayrshire pupils make their voices heard
Posted on 10 Nov 2023
Young people met at Saltcoats Town Hall in Irvine to tackle a host of hard-hitting issues at the latest Youth Joint Cabinet meeting this week.
The morning session on Tuesday, November 7, was the latest in a series of joint meetings involving North Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet, senior officers, Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Youth Council Executive.
During the round-table discussions, the format included a combination of listening to the experience of young people directly and encouraging the young people to also share feedback using a QR code via the Council’s Youth Participation digital platform where all of the information gathered from the day will be collated and reviewed.
Councillors and officials bring together all North Ayrshire secondary schools throughout the year to ensure the Council listens and responds to what young people say about how the local authority operates. The second of its kind this year, this week’s Youth Joint Cabinet was a unique opportunity for young people to speak directly to local policy makers and have lively discussions on the issues that matter the most to them. The discussions centred around:
- Youth Peoples Voice and Democracy
- Crime and Personal Safety
- Financial Literacies and Education
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Secondary School Life in North Ayrshire
Representing all of North Ayrshire’s secondary schools, over 100 young people attended from Irvine Royal, Greenwood, St Matthews, Kilwinning, Largs, Auchenharvie, Ardrossan, Garnock Community Campus, Arran High and Lockhart Campus. Mais Al Diri, who is now nearing the end of her two-year tenure as Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Cunninghame North, was a panel member at the event.
She said: “North Ayrshire was the first and is one of only two local authorities in Scotland to host an annual Joint Cabinet meeting with young people. “Youth Joint Cabinet is a brilliant example of how young people are at the heart of the Council’s decision making on all polices and strategies affecting them. If you have something you want to say on an issue important to you, please let us know.* Your voice will be listened to and actioned upon.”
The bi-annual meeting was one in a series organised by the Council’s Youth Services team as part of their ongoing work to encourage participation and citizenship.
Council Leader Marie Burns said: “I am immensely proud of the young people who have spoken openly, frankly and with courage this week.
“The timing of our latest Joint Cabinet meeting was chosen for a reason as this is National Youth Work Week.
"This is a celebration of youth work so please stay tuned to our social media channels over the next few days where we will continue to share some brilliant highlights.
“Youth work really does have something for everybody. If you are a young person, you can use youth work to amplify your voice and to represent change like those who attended Joint Cabinet yesterday.
"You can also be part of a youth forum and other initiatives dealing with issues important to you or attend youth sessions such as cookery, gaming, arts or weekly social sessions to meet new friends – there are so many amazing examples of youth work happening across North Ayrshire every day.”
The Council Leader also recognised the area’s local members of Scottish Youth Parliament in attendance:
“Thank to our MSYPs Mais and Pyper for attending what will be their last Joint Cabinet meeting.
"Alongside Logan and Justin who couldn’t make it today, our MSYPs have successfully completed a power of work around #youthvoice and #youthparticipation in North Ayrshire over the last two years. “We are lucky to have several of our new Scottish Youth Parliament candidates in the room (at Joint Cabinet) so I would encourage you to please network with them, ask questions, and most importantly to use this Youth Work Week to cast your vote for who you want as your local SYP. Eight to 25-years-olds can do so now via the Young Scot platform: https://voting.young.scot/
“To our current SYPs in the running, thank you to each of our eight candidates for stepping up to the challenge and best of luck in the upcoming SYP elections.”
With Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, Councillor Shaun Macaulay adding: “Our ethos is ‘you said it, we did it’ – so we want to take forward as many actions as we can from today's Joint Youth Cabinet meeting. Thank you to the young people who participated, everyone should be really proud of themselves.
“Remember as well as SYP voting, now is also the time to cast your votes for Youth Participatory Budgeting – this is where local youth groups can access up to £1,000 funding throughout North Ayrshire. Don’t delay, cast your votes now at: https://tinyurl.com/PBvotenow23 - it’s your money for youth projects, you decide!”
Part of the Council’s Youth Participation strategy, it allows pupils to learn more about how their local authority operates, while forming an important part of the Council’s approach to give young people a voice. Visit the Council webpage: Youth groups and organisations (north-ayrshire.gov.uk) for more info on how you can make a difference by getting involved in #youthparticipation
If you want to raise an issue that is of importance to you or you want to find out more about #youthparticipation, email: youthservices@north-ayrshire.gov.uk or send a DM to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nayouthservices and Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAYouthServices