Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Sub-Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interest was declared:

Agenda Item 3 – Progress Report: Implementing the Overview and Scrutiny Report ‘Redefining Youth Engagement’

Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his sister was a teacher at Hatch End High School.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Report of the Corporate Director, Children and Families.

The Chair welcomed those present to the Special meeting of the Sub-Committee, which was held at the Cedars Youth and Community Centre.  She invited Watford Football Club’s Head of Community to give a brief talk about the history and programme of events at the Centre. The Chair also welcomed youth representatives from the following groups:

1.                  Harrow Youth Parliament (HYP);

2.                  Shaftesbury School;

3.                  X16 (employment readiness and work experience scheme);

4.                  Looked after children (CLA);

5.                  Flex Girls Youth Club;

6.                  No Limits (after school club);

7.                  National Citizenship Scheme graduates (NCS);

8.                  Users of the Cedars Centre.

Following this, the Sub-Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families which set out progress in taking forward the 14 recommendations arising from the ‘Redefining Youth Engagement’ (RYE) review, which had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 30 May 2012.  Officers highlighted the following areas of the report:

·                    Cabinet had noted the RYE report and had delegated responsibility to the Corporate Director for Children and Families, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Families to develop and implement the response to the report, whilst working in partnership with relevant stakeholders;

·                    the 14 recommendations made by the Scrutiny Review Group were set within the wider context of the Council’s priorities and the Government’s ‘Positive for Youth’ agenda;

·                    the recommendations fell into the following three broad areas: greater engagement with the HYP and young residents of Harrow, mentoring and positive activities and employability and volunteering schemes.  The Children’s Services Youth Development Team were working to enhance these areas and further details of 17 youth projects currently underway in Harrow could be found in the relevant booklet;

·                    it would not be possible to implement all the recommendations arising from the Review in the current economic climate.  However, the Review had helped to provide a framework for future development, which the Council was committed to.

The Chair invited representatives from HYP to provide an update regarding the Harrow Youth Summit which had taken place in November 2012, where 6 of the 14 Recommendations had been further explored and debated.  Representative members of the HYP made the following points:

·                    the Youth Summit had been attended by over 200 young people and others drawn from different high schools, colleges, special schools, the Youth Offending Service, CLAs, the NCS, Youth Employment Scheme, the Tuition Service as well as some voluntary sector partners;

·                    action plans, social action project hubs and pilot workshops had been highlighted for prioritisation. The youth action agenda should be supported and taken forward as these projects would benefit not just young people but the community as a whole.  Young people were keen to become involved in social action projects, to gain experience through volunteering and set their own terms of reference;

·                    all of Harrow’s Children’s Centres should remain open and the young people using these should be encouraged and allowed to contribute to the planning and running of these centres, which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 119.