UK Youth Parliament

Infobox Company
company_name = United Kingdom Youth Parliament
company_
company_type = Company limited by guarantee
foundation = 1999
location = 15 Clerkenwell Green
London
EC1R 0DP
UK
020 7843 6310
area_served = flagicon|UK United Kingdom
key_people = Andy Hamflett, Chief Executive
Chris Bennetts, Chair of Trustees
industry = Youth empowerment
homepage = [http://www.ukyp.org.uk/ UKYP.org.uk]

The UK Youth Parliament, also known as UKYP, is a democratically elected youth organisation in the United Kingdom, consisting of elected members aged between 11 and 18.

Introduction

Every year, thousands of 11-18 year olds from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland elect their local Member(s) of Youth Parliament (MYPs). These representatives provide a voice for young people in their area, which is listened to by local, regional, national and international decision-makers.

There are currently over 600 MYPs and DMYPs (deputies), and over the last three years over 1,000,000 votes were cast in elections. The organisation has been endorsed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative Party Leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg. UKYP receives funding from the British Government's Department for Children, Schools and Families, as well as commercial sponsors including [http://www.mwhglobal.com/ MWH Global] and BT.

Campaigns

The UK Youth Parliament holds an annual vote to determine three issues to campaign on at a national level. In May 2008, this vote was held at a debate between over 300 MYPs in the House of Lords [ [http://www.parliament.uk/about/visiting/educational/special_events/uk_youth_parliament.cfm UK Youth Parliament at Westminster - Parliament.uk, 2nd May 2008] ] . The event was chaired by the Lord Speaker Baroness Hayman and was broadcast on BBC Parliament. UKYP's three national campaigns for 2008/09 were voted in as "Recycling & the Environment", "National public transport concession card for under 18s" and "Abolish university tuition fees". The UKYP is now the only national organisation campaigning for the abolition of tuition fees.

Annual Sitting

Campaigns are developed and launched at the Annual Sitting, the organisation's largest regular conference, which all MYPs attend (including representatives from Funky Dragon (for Wales), the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Northern Ireland Youth Forum).

The 8th Annual Sitting was held at the University of Exeter from Saturday 19th July to Tuesday 22rd July 2008. Keynote speakers included Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister of State for the Department of Health and Minister for the South West. [ [http://www.ukyp.org.uk/live UKYP Annual Sitting Blog] ] .

Manifesto

Every year, a manifesto is produced, in which MYPs aim to represent the views of their constituents to both central government and local decision-makers, on all issues that have a significant effect on young people.The document is being continually updated through a Private Members Bill system which allows MYPs to propose anything they feel should be added, amended or removed from the manifesto. The system is based closely on the three reading system used by the UK Westminster Parliament. The manifesto is available from the organisation's [http://www.ukyp.org.uk/ website] .

Governance

UKYP is a registered charity, and an Associated Company Limited by Guarantee called Democracy for Young People Ltd. (t/a United Kingdom Youth Parliament). It is governed by the Board of Trustees, who are drawn from and represent various stakeholder groups. Over half of the positions on the Board are reserved for young people aged 18-25 who are elected regionally by MYPs every two years. Each of these 12 Trustees represent their region's MYPs — the nine English regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Board of Trustees is also the Company's Directorship.

Notable members of the Board of Trustees include Charles Hendry MP (representing the Conservatives), Natascha Engel MP (Labour) and Lynne Featherstone MP (Liberal Democrats).

Criticism

The organisation has been described by Daily Mail columnist Tom Utley as "sublimely fatuous" [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/newscomment.html?in_article_id=500191&in_page_id=1787 Daily Mail article: 6th December 2007] ] and may have issues of tokenism. [ [http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/16_2/16_2_12_YouthParticipationUK.pdf Youth Participation in the UK: Bureaucratic Disaster or Triumph of Child Rights?] ] It is also claimed that young people from marginalised groups are under-represented. [ [http://www.cfps.org.uk/pdf/review/5169.pdf Involving young people in decision making and local democracy] ] A report by the Office of Public Management was critical of UKYP's relationship with the devolved nations. [ [http://www.opm.co.uk/resources/papers/localgov/Review-of-the-UKYP-final-report.pdf OPM review of UKYP] ]

References

See also

*Community youth development
*Youth politics

External links

* [http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk UKYP Home Page]