Young people encouraged to stand for election and have their say on local issues

The Wiltshire Youth Council will start next year, with representatives from secondary schools across the county elected to speak out on issues that are important to them.

Wiltshire Youth Councillors will have the power to:

• meet up with Wiltshire Council leaders and have their say on local decisions
• work with area boards to ensure funding for youth projects has the right impact for them and their peers
• inspect services to ensure they represent young people's best interests
• easily communicate with their peers so young people's views are properly represented
• opportunity to shadow council leaders as a shadow youth cabinet member for a particular area of interest

Schools are being invited to encourage 11-17 year olds to put themselves up for election, with elections due to take place between 31 January 2022 and 4 February 2022.

Youth councillors will be asked to commit one evening per month to attend a full youth council meeting, which will focus on issues important to the young people. They will also be expected to talk to their peers about the issues and represent their views. There will also be training to support them in their roles, covering topics including debating, running a youth inspection and delivering presentations.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said: "There is no better way to ensure we are hearing the views and meeting the needs of our younger generation than hearing from the young people themselves. These young people will have a platform to share views of young people across their age range and input into key decisions that will have an impact on them.

"We will be ready to support those putting themselves forward and we want to encourage a wide range of young people to take part."

You can watch videos of Cllr Mayes and Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council talking about why it's a good idea to be part of the Wiltshire Youth Council https://youtu.be/27ikHINbLxM (opens new window).

Young people who are interested and want further information can go to childandyouthvoice@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

You can also follow the child and youth voice team on Facebook  (6) Wiltshire Youth Union | Facebook (opens new window) and Instagram Wiltshire Youth Union (@wiltshireyouthunion) • Instagram photos and videos (opens new window).