Caerphilly Youth Forum’s Chairperson has been elected as the Wales representative on the national Youth Select Committee.
Sophie Jones, 18, from Ystrad Mynach, is one of 11 committee members to represent young people in the British Youth Council initiative.
The former Pontllanfraith Comprehensive School pupil said: “This role is all about being the voice for young people in Wales, and is one which I think has become even more important this year with the closure of Funky Dragon, where previously young people were able to raise issues that affected them on a Wales-wide basis.
“I’m hoping I can take as many views and opinions of young people from across Wales just like Funky Dragon did, to ensure young people still have as much of a voice in Wales.”
This year, the Youth Select Committee’s key focus will be on mental health services, which was chosen by the UK Youth Parliament as the priority campaign following a vote by over 90,000 young people from across the UK.
Councillor Rhianon Passmore, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning said: “My congratulations go to Sophie for the fantastic honour of being selected as a member of the national Youth Select Committee.
“It is vital that young people have a strong voice and are able to influence decisions on issues which directly affect them. I have no doubt that she will represent not only Caerphilly county borough, but the whole of Wales commendably.”
Youth assembly Funky Dragon was cut by the Welsh Government last year.
Urgh! More gesture politics with roles being publicised that have no lasting impact on anything.
Is this the case? Is this just more talking or can this council actually effect any decisions? Which party does she represent? What are her politics in general?
I think I may be misunderstanding this.
How many more layers of government do we need? Eu, Westminster, Senedd, County. Is this an actual extra official level?
As far as I understand these youth officers will go to an hour-long meeting every couple of months where they will have a lunch paid for by us, the taxpayers, and have their say on a few different things. The people chairing the meeting (actual decision makers) will say they understand but will do nothing after the meeting has ended. Between meeting the youth officers parade about championing their delusions about power while mentioning imaginary changes to justify themselves.
See why I say it is gesture politics?
Dean; lets drill this debate down to a simple question, do you, or do you not, agree that young people should engage with politics, local or national?, if you dont like the fact that they do, and, that local politicians of all parties ( this is not a partisan issue) have enabled this to happen, in Caerphilly CBC then you are of course entitled to that view.
But, the thrust of your vitriolic attack on this process is totally disproportionate. Particularly the almost personal slant of your opposition being taken out against this young ladies iniciatives, both here visions and her aspirations, which, in my view should be applauded not derided. It may be gesure politics as you state, but, what is wrong with that amongst you citizens?.
Again, you have failed to grasp the point.
Of course I want young people to engage in politics but this youth centre does not properly engage them in politics. If you want to engage the young in politics there needs to be a decrease in the average age of councillors, and youth forum, or youth office, that has an actual budget to work with whose decisions are final. The youth should not have to rely on dinosaurs to get things done.
It is the scheme of things ( at least in respect to the current debate) that we ALL rely on the local movers and shakers in the guise of senior local politicians ” to get things done”, and I have my fair share of rattling local political cages, mostly without sucess I may add, and mostly, simply, because I dont sometimes sing from the same hymn sheets as those making decisions on my behalf, BUT that is how it works, and I do not lose any sleep over it.
These young people can put additional pressure on these `dinosaurs` to get their message across, via this forum, and, should be able to shape policy on issue which effect them in the process, nothing wrong with that????
Urgh! More gesture politics with roles being publicised that have no lasting impact on anything.
Is this the case? Is this just more talking or can this council actually effect any decisions? Which party does she represent? What are her politics in general?
I think I may be misunderstanding this.
How many more layers of government do we need? Eu, Westminster, Senedd, County. Is this an actual extra official level?
As far as I understand these youth officers will go to an hour-long meeting every couple of months where they will have a lunch paid for by us, the taxpayers, and have their say on a few different things. The people chairing the meeting (actual decision makers) will say they understand but will do nothing after the meeting has ended. Between meeting the youth officers parade about championing their delusions about power while mentioning imaginary changes to justify themselves.
See why I say it is gesture politics?
Dean; lets drill this debate down to a simple question, do you, or do you not, agree that young people should engage with politics, local or national?, if you dont like the fact that they do, and, that local politicians of all parties ( this is not a partisan issue in Caerphilly CBC) have enabled this to happen, then you are of course entitled to that view, if that is your view, then why not just say so, those who otherwise see merit in debating the issue with you could then ignore you?
But, the thrust of your vitriolic attack on this process is totally disproportionate. Particularly the almost personal slant of your opposition being taken out against this young ladies iniciatives, both here visions and her aspirations, which, in my view should be applauded not derided. It may be gesure politics as you state, but, what is wrong with that amongst young citizens?.
Again, you have failed to grasp the point.
Of course I want young people to engage in politics but this youth centre does not properly engage them in politics. If you want to engage the young in politics there needs to be a decrease in the average age of councillors, and youth forum, or youth office, that has an actual budget to work with whose decisions are final. The youth should not have to rely on dinosaurs to get things done.
It is the scheme of things ( at least in respect to the current debate) that we ALL rely on the local movers and shakers in the guise of senior local politicians ” to get things done”, and I have my fair share of rattling local political cages, mostly without sucess I may add, and mostly, simply, because I dont sometimes sing from the same hymn sheets as those making decisions on my behalf, BUT that is how it works, and I do not lose any sleep over it.
These young people can put additional pressure on these `dinosaurs` to get their message across, via this forum, and, should be able to shape policy on issue which effect them in the process, nothing wrong with that????
These ‘youth officers’ are not linked to any political party, we are just Young people who would rather be involved with projects such as the youth forum where we are getting involved with decision makers to have a voice instead of hanging around the streets. We don’t meet every couple of months, we meet weekly and work on issues raised by young people from around the borough. We chair these meetings and plan them ourselves with youth workers there to support us. We are highly respected by all members of the council and decision makers. We you’d like to see examples of what work we do have a look at our Twitter @caerphillyYF. Also as you can see from the above article I work two jobs and pay tax myself.
Calling it Gesture politics is a huge understatement, I think they call its youth impowerment! ????????
Please answer the following questions so we can have some more insight into your role as I still believe youth groups are nothing more than glorified pressure tanks who air concerns on deaf ears.
1. What budget is your group given to work with?
2. What were the last three things you personally voted on and, as a result of your vote, saw come to fruition?
3. How many people can overrule the decisions you make?
4. What if the council disagrees with something your group would like to see done? Can you push forward with it anyway?
5. What responsibility do you personally have for decisions? I.e. ‘the bucks stops with you’ applies to you ver which decisions that have been made?
If the youth group does not have responsibility over a specific budget, and does not have final say on things, the group is a pressure group relying upon the council to get things done. I am not criticising you or what you do, but criticising the council and the whole scheme itself for pretending to care about what young people think but doing whatever they like regardless of your group/opinions. It is gesture politics from the higher powers to youth groups, and unfortunately young people are the butt of the joke.
Dean – Your ignorance knows no bounds. Clearly you have no idea about the role in which the Caerphilly Youth Forum have played in shaping policy within CCBC. I’m not going to mention everything on here about what they’ve done but as a Chair of Education Scrutiny I’ve witnessed the presentations made by the Youth Forum and all members are always impressed with the drive and enthusiasm shown. Your constant negative trolling continues to display what you are. A knee – jerk reactionary intent on running everybody down without knowing any of the facts. Read up on things before you make ridiculous remarks. Then I suggest you come back and congratulate all those who work hard to ensure young people are listened to within Caerphilly Borough.
James, I am shocked by your inability to grasp simple terms. My criticism is the Youth Forum is nothing but a glorified pressure group. A glorified pressure group is, by definition, a non-political, organised group seeking to change public policy by raising issues affecting their main interest group. In this case the Youth Forum’s main interest group is constructed of Caerphilly’s young people, and their attempts to influence the political agenda involve giving presentations and attending meetings with actual policy makers. My identification of the Youth Forum is accurate.
After extensively reading their website and the website of Funky Dragon I have discovered the groups do not have a vote on public policy, do not have a budget to control, and rely on the will of the cabinet in Caerphilly to implement their ideas. For the Youth Forum to be effective they must have a small budget devolved to them to use on project they feel are important, and must be given a vote in public policy decisions.
At the moment the Youth Forum is as useless as the council’s scrutiny committees, but then again the cabinet style government never does effectively work on a small scale.
You call me a troll but I am a realist looking at issues from an unemotional, practical stance.
Dean – You said the following “Urgh! More gesture politics with roles being publicised that have no lasting impact on anything”. The Youth Forum have been successful in changing Council Policy before and I’m sure this will continue. You clearly didn’t know about this before you jumped in with both feet to again joyfully run people down for doing good in the community. It’s good that young people are having influence over Council policy. There are good things happening out there Dean. It’s not all doom and gloom you know.
These ‘youth officers’ are not linked to any political party, we are just Young people who would rather be involved with projects such as the youth forum where we are getting involved with decision makers to have a voice instead of hanging around the streets. We don’t meet every couple of months, we meet weekly and work on issues raised by young people from around the borough. We chair these meetings and plan them ourselves with youth workers there to support us. We are highly respected by all members of the council and decision makers. We you’d like to see examples of what work we do have a look at our Twitter @caerphillyYF. Also as you can see from the above article I work two jobs and pay tax myself.
Calling it Gesture politics is a huge understatement, I think they call it youth impowerment! ????????
Please answer the following questions so we can have some more insight into your role as I still believe youth groups are nothing more than glorified pressure tanks who air concerns on deaf ears.
1. What budget is your group given to work with?
2. What were the last three things you personally voted on and, as a result of your vote, saw come to fruition?
3. How many people can overrule the decisions you make?
4. What if the council disagrees with something your group would like to see done? Can you push forward with it anyway?
5. What responsibility do you personally have for decisions? I.e. ‘the bucks stops with you’ applies to you ver which decisions that have been made?
If the youth group does not have responsibility over a specific budget, and does not have final say on things, the group is a pressure group relying upon the council to get things done. I am not criticising you or what you do, but criticising the council and the whole scheme itself for pretending to care about what young people think but doing whatever they like regardless of your group/opinions. It is gesture politics from the higher powers to youth groups, and unfortunately young people are the butt of the joke.
Dean – Your ignorance knows no bounds. Clearly you have no idea about the role in which the Caerphilly Youth Forum have played in shaping policy within CCBC. I’m not going to mention everything on here about what they’ve done but as a Chair of Education Scrutiny I’ve witnessed the presentations made by the Youth Forum and all members are always impressed with the drive and enthusiasm shown. Your constant negative trolling continues to display what you are. A knee – jerk reactionary intent on running everybody down without knowing any of the facts. Read up on things before you make ridiculous remarks. Then I suggest you come back and congratulate all those who work hard to ensure young people are listened to within Caerphilly Borough.
James, I am shocked by your inability to grasp simple terms. My criticism is the Youth Forum is nothing but a glorified pressure group. A glorified pressure group is, by definition, a non-political, organised group seeking to change public policy by raising issues affecting their main interest group. In this case the Youth Forum’s main interest group is constructed of Caerphilly’s young people, and their attempts to influence the political agenda involve giving presentations and attending meetings with actual policy makers. My identification of the Youth Forum is accurate.
After extensively reading their website and the website of Funky Dragon I have discovered the groups do not have a vote on public policy, do not have a budget to control, and rely on the will of the cabinet in Caerphilly to implement their ideas. For the Youth Forum to be effective they must have a small budget devolved to them to use on project they feel are important, and must be given a vote in public policy decisions.
At the moment the Youth Forum is as useless as the council’s scrutiny committees, but then again the cabinet style government never does effectively work on a small scale.
You call me a troll but I am a realist looking at issues from an unemotional, practical stance.
Dean – You said the following “Urgh! More gesture politics with roles being publicised that have no lasting impact on anything”. The Youth Forum have been successful in changing Council Policy before and I’m sure this will continue. You clearly didn’t know about this before you jumped in with both feet to again joyfully run people down for doing good in the community. It’s good that young people are having influence over Council policy. There are good things happening out there Dean. It’s not all doom and gloom you know.
Fair enough sounds pretty reasonable. Structure and direction is never a bad thing so I accept that aspect of the scheme. I still have my reservations as to the effectiveness of your decision making and it’s implementation in the real world. Particularly with ever tightening budgets and austerity measures but I don’t know this for sure so won’t comment.
My main concern is that this is another level of beuracracy which we could well do without and that it may further bloat the new political class of representatives who engage in the system from an early age and see it as a career choice for personal empowerment and gain rather than from a desire to further society.
Unwilling leaders such as Ian Smith of the former Rhodesia will never be reproduced by such means.
Ps. Whether you like his politics or not he is widely recognised for his role unto and beyond the creation of Zim.
Fair enough sounds pretty reasonable. Structure and direction is never a bad thing so I accept that aspect of the scheme. I still have my reservations as to the effectiveness of your decision making and it’s implementation in the real world. Particularly with ever tightening budgets and austerity measures but I don’t know this for sure so won’t comment.
My main concern is that this is another level of beuracracy which we could well do without and that it may further bloat the new political class of representatives who engage in the system from an early age and see it as a career choice for personal empowerment and gain rather than from a desire to further society.
Unwilling leaders such as Ian Smith of the former Rhodesia will never be reproduced by such means.
Ps. Whether you like his politics or not he is widely recognised for his role unto and beyond the creation of Zim.