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Oxfordshire Youth Parliament's first meeting
On 16th March 30 young people representing schools across Oxfordshire met with County Councillors, District Councillors, Health Representatives and County Council Heads of Service at County Hall to vote on key issues.
What happened?
It was a great moment for Oxfordshire on March 16th when Oxfordshire Youth Parliament met for the first time at County Hall. Over 30 young people aged 11-18 from schools from across Oxfordshire debated issues that concerned them, with senior officers and members from Children's Trust partner organisations.
Top issues for young people
The debates were chaired by Members of the UK Youth Parliament and the level of debate was interesting, helpful, enthusiastic and challenging, with young people and adults listening to each other's views. The two top issues that the young people voted on were:
- Standardisation of age - making the age when you become an 'adult' be the same for services and leisure activities as it is in law. The legal age of an adult in the UK is 18. But on public transport the age varies for buying adult tickets from 14 – 19 years old. At a Theme Park in the UK you can be paying an adult fare from just 12 years old.As a member of OYP said: "OAP’s (Old Age Pensioners) get discounts on transport, why don’t we?"
- Facilities for young people - these are not being well publicised locally. A member of OYP said: "Young people do not have an awareness of what is available to them”
Alison Partridge (Strategic Lead, Participation and Play, Oxfordshire County Council) said:
"OYP offers Oxfordshire another really exciting opportunity for young people to get involved in discussions about the things that effect them in their schools, at home and in their communities. This is just the start - it will get bigger, better and I'm confident it will get increasingly effective as the young people find their feet and their voices!"
Downloads
Further information
Emily Little, Involvement Officer, Participation and Play Team, Children Young People and Families Directorate, Harlow Centre, Raymund Road, Oxford OX3 0SW Tel (01865) 256646 emily.little@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Related websites
BigVoiceOxfordshire.com
