UK Youth Parliament Handbook Name Constituency 1 Contents Introduction FACTS, FIGURES AND INFO The UK Youth Parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 Introduction .................................................................. 2 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning. How this handbook can help you .................................. 2 Members of Youth Parliament are elected in youth elections How it all works ............................................................ 3 throughout the UK. What help can I expect? ................................................ 4 Once elected, MYPs attend and organise events and projects, Decision making ............................................................ 5 run campaigns and influence decision makers on the issues The 7 steps to making policy ......................................... 6 that matter to young people. MYP role description .................................................... 8 Our Campaigns Code of Commitment and Conduct ............................ 10 Make Your Mark is the UK’s largest youth consultation Social media guidelines ............................................... 12 and is run by the British Youth Council, with the topics The three main parts of Parliament explained ............... 14 decided by the UK Youth Parliament. At the House of Which Laws would you change if you could? ............... 16 Commons event, Members of Youth Parliament debate the top 5 topics from Make Your Mark and then vote for MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR YEAR AS MYP two campaigns, one for a devolved (England only) issue and one for a reserved issue (UK wide). This leads to there What was I elected or voted in to do? .......................... 18 being two UKYP priority campaigns each year, one on a Get Involved with the UK Parliament ............................ 20 devolved issue and one on a reserved issue. This is due to Planning a campaign: hints and tips ............................ 21 the devolved nature of the UK democracy and to ensure A few campaign action ideas to get you started: .......... 23 relevant representation of the issues from the all nations. APPENDICES What we believe in The views of young people are represented in the UK Youth Key Contacts ............................................................... 24 Parliament Manifesto, which contains statements on the Jargon buster .............................................................. 26 issues MYPs think are most important. You can find the Constituencies ............................................................. 30 manifesto on our website: www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk Checklists .................................................................... 32 UK Youth Parliament is for everyone The National Activity Year ............................................ 34 There are lots of ways for young people everywhere to get involved with the UK Youth Parliament, from supporting campaigns to debating in online forums, utilising social media and filling in online ballot papers. If you know young people that would like to stand for election please email [email protected] for more details of who to talk to. The UK Youth Parliament is managed by the British Youth Council, as part of the Youth Voice programme including the Young Mayors Network and Local Youth Council Network. How this handbook can help you This handbook has a wealth of information contained in its ask your Local Authority worker to help you or speak to pages, including valuable hints, tips and things for you to your Regional Secretary (RS) if your region has one or think about as a MYP. Please take time to read all of the Procedures Group (PG) representative. sections and fill out the relevant information. If in doubt 2 FACTS, FIGURES AND INFO FIGURES FACTS, How it all works The beginning Scotland and Wales. The idea for a youth parliament for the UK, originally • Encourages the involvement of all young people came from young people in 1996. Andrew Rowe and is run on a local level through Local Authorities who was the MP for Faversham and Mid-Kent, (England only). championed the proposal in Parliament and beyond. • Ensures that young people in the UK are given a Andrew was later described by an MYP as UKYP’s voice on any issue that affects them, as laid out ‘Founding Father’. The National Society for the in Article 12 of the UN BYC Convention on the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) sponsored Rights of the Child. the development of a UKYP proposal. Then in 1998 until 2000, a steering group of young people and • Gives young people the opportunity to be involved organisations, chaired by James Moody (a young in the democratic process at a national level. person), and with the support of two staff (Peter Clarke • Empowers young people to take positive action and Kate Parish), established the organisation and ran within their local communities. the 1st Annual Sitting in January 2001. • Is a non-party political organisation, and as such, seeks to represent no party political view. UKYP is Now solely issue based. The work of UKYP is managed by the British Youth Council (BYC), a national charity working to ensure UKYP recognises the regional and national boundaries young people across the UK have a voice. UKYP is of the UK. We have Youth Democracy Coordinators managed on a day-to-day basis by a team of BYC who provide support across the 9 English regions. In programme staff. The work across the regions and the 3 nations BYC works with partners and youth voice nations is overseen by a team of Youth Democracy mechanisms where they exist to ensure young people Coordinators. Their role is to support the work of from across the UK have the chance to unite and elected MYPs. They organise the induction meeting, strengthen their views to decision makers across the UK. BYC Conventions and support the work of the Each Local Authority across England represents one Procedures Group representative (PG) and Regional UKYP constituency. Each constituency is entitled Secretary (RS). to at least one MYP. The allocation of MYPs in each constituency depends on the number of young people in The Procedures Group and Regional that area e.g. Blackburn with Darwen in the North West Secretaries has 1 MYP, while Birmingham in the West Midlands has The PG make the decisions that guide the development 5 MYPs, because more young people live there. of UKYP and agree arrangements for the Annual Sitting and regional BYC Conventions. The group is made up What happens next? of one PG per region or nation. In some regions they The short answer… MYPs get to work. There are are supported by Regional Secretaries (RS) who assist various areas where MYPs can have a positive impact: with regional communications and in the running of Local level - MYPs are elected in their constituency. BYC Conventions. At the point of their election, they may choose to work on local campaigns and raise the profile of young UKYP aims and structure people’s voice in their area. UKYP aims to give young people of the UK a voice, which will be heard and listened to by: Regional level/Devolved level - MYPs attend BYC Conventions in their term of office. At these events they • Local, regional and national government have the opportunity to share best practice, network • Providers of services for young people with other youth parliaments and youth councils as • Other agencies who have an interest in the views well as join forces on local campaigns. Their role is to and needs of young people speak to the group on behalf of the young people who UKYP: elected them, as well as those that didn’t i.e. all of their • Is composed of representatives aged 11-18 years constituents. The PG representatives then take this to old from across England, Northern Ireland, a national platform and make decisions on the Annual 3 Sitting, the House of Commons event and UKYP policy. November. There are videos of both events on our website National level - There are two national events for UK Youth which might be worth a viewing! Parliament: the Annual Sitting and the House of Commons. At the House of Commons event MYPs decide the two The Annual Sitting takes place each summer, usually at the priority campaigns for the coming year. They do this by end of July. MYPs are asked to consult their constituents debating the top five topics from the Make Your Mark before they attend this sitting to be able to amend and consultation. Based on these debates they cast two votes change the UKYP manifesto. After the manifesto has been for their priority campaigns, one for a devolved (England only) voted on, a national consultation is launched that every issue and one for a reserved issue (UK wide). This is due 11-18 year old in the UK can take part in called ‘Make Your to the devolved nature of the UK democracy and to ensure Mark’. This then informs the House of Commons debate in relevant representation of the issues from the all nations. What help can I expect? 1. Worker 2. Youth Democracy Coordinator Local Authority or voluntary organisation Convention organiser, support and advice to Local Authority and MYP 3. Procedures Group representative National programme and policy influencer, MYP support and advice 4. Regional Secretary If you have one, support and advice 5. Central Team Support, advice, press, website and national events UKYP website [www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk] Check out the website for useful information, news and campaign updates. 4 FACTS, FIGURES AND INFO FIGURES