UK Youth Parliament
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| UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) | |
|---|---|
| Established: | 1999 |
| Co-Chairs of the Board of Trustees: | Charles Hendry MP & Chris Bennetts |
| Chief Executive: | Andy Hamflett |
| Address: | UK Youth Parliament |
| Telephone: | 020 7843 6310 |
| Fax: | 020 7843 6038 |
| Website: | http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk |
The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) is a charity that has members of young people from all over the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Youth Parliament receives funding from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Over 400 young people are elected from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland annually to represent the views of their constituents to the government and local decision-makers.
The UKYP produces an annual manifesto which mirrors the remit of government departments. They also hold an annual sitting at which the manifesto is put together and ratified, as well planning national campaigns on issues of importance to young people. The UKYP currently supports campaigns including votes at 16 and a national concession card for young people.
The latest Annual Sitting (the 6th sitting for the organisation) was held at the University of Leicester from Friday 21st July to Monday 24th July 2006. This involved over 400 young people from all across the UK coming to the event and making their voices heard. They designed campaigns focusing on Sex and Relationships Education, Votes at 16 and transport fares for young people.
[edit] Governance
UKYP has a 21 strong Board of Trustees who are drawn from and represent the various stakeholder groups of UKYP.
UKYP is a registered charity governed by a Board of Management. The Registered Charity (No. 1084716) is called Democracy for Young People Ltd. (t/a United Kingdom Youth Parliament). UKYP is an Associated Company Limited by Guarantee (No. 4147120). The Board of Trustees is also the Company's Directorship.
Over half of the positions on the Board are reserved for young people aged 18-25 who are elected regionally by Members of Youth Parliament every two years - each of these 12 Trustees represent young people in UKYP from their region - the nine English regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Board of Trustees is responsible to the Membership for ensuring that UKYP fulfils its objectives as defined in the charity's Memorandum and business plan, and have specific responsibilities which include the management of UKYP staff and finances and strategic planning.
The Board has the Sub Groups which enable work to completed outside of meetings and for the wider Membership, supporters and expertise to be drawn in as necessary. These are:
- Audit, Finance and Property
- Corporate Development
- Human Resources
The United Kingdom Youth Parliament also has another level of governance below the board of directors and this is called the PG (Procedures Group) who are in charge over the national sitting and the direction of the youth parliament with regards to the direction and policies of the parliament.
[edit] Procedures Group
Each of the UK Youth Parliament regions and nations elect two people to represent them on the Procedures Group of UK Youth Parliament; this group acts as a representative body of UK Youth Parliament as a whole and fills the Executive gap in UKYP.
The group it should be stressed is not an executive, rather a management committee responsible for ensuring Members of Youth Parliament have their opinions heard on matters of national organisation.
The Procedures Group is responsible for a number of key functions including
- National consultation
- Decisions about the Annual Sitting
- Representing the opinions of MYPs on national issues
- Acting as the communication link between regions
- Acting as the communication link between Central Office and MYPs
The Procedures Group help to set the national direction and make procedural decisions, but only do so as representatives as their regions; elected Members of Youth Parliament remain at the centre of all decision making.
[edit] Central Office
UK Youth Parliament has a dedicated team of Central Office staff who help to secure funding and deliver the wishes of MYPs and the Procedures Groups, responsibilities range from the organisation of national events to the administration of the website.
This team is currently headed by Andy Hamflett, who is UK Youth Parliament's Chief Executive and works to secure increased funding and opportunities.
Kate Parish, UKYP's Head of Programmes was one of the first to be awarded with a National Council for Voluntary Youth Services Award, reflecting her contribution to the promotion of Youth Involvement and Participation.
[edit] Campaigns
The major three campaigns that UKYP is currently working on are:
- 'Transport'
- 'Sex and Relationships Education'
- 'Votes @ 16'
The 'Transport' campaign has seen a focus on lower fares for young people, and a national standard subsidy card for young people to create equality and encourage them to use public transport for long-distance journeys. Currently most subsidy cards only apply to specific geographical areas.
The 'Sex and Relationships Education' campaign is focused on increasing awareness of the importance and implementation of SRE in and out of schools. It is recognised that whilst all schools must teach it, the way in which it is taught is entirely up to schools, leading to huge inequality in standards across the secondary education system.
'Votes @ 16' has seen a focus on MYPs being asked to contact their local representatives and convince them to give their support for the movement. UKYP is also a member of the Votes at 16 Coalition.
[edit] Views of UKYP
UKYP has a working document manifesto which details its position on any significant issues in which it has an interest. This document is being continually updated through UKYP's Private Members Bill system which allows MYPs to propose anything that should be added to, amended or removed from the document.
The current system is based closely on the three reading system used by the UK Westminster Parliament, though some members of UKYP's Procedures Group have expressed an interest in simplifying the system to make it more accessible to use.
[edit] See also
- Kevin Nicholson
- Charles Hendry MP
