UK Youth Parliament

Formation

The concept of a United Kingdom Youth Parliament first arose at an event in Coventry entitled "Heirs To The Millennium". After the event, the MP Andrew Rowe and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and youth worker Kate Parish began to develop a proposal for the youth advocacy group. In 1998, a steering committee was formed, led by Andrew Rowe and chaired by a young person named James Moody.

In 2000, Malcolm Wicks, Department for Education and Employment, agreed to employ a member of staff who would work full-time on developing the UK Youth Parliament alongside Kate Parish. Soon after, the first elections for the UK Youth Parliament were held, with the first Annual Sitting being held in February 2000.

There is wide debate over who was key to the formation of the UK Youth Parliament with several people trying to claim that they were key to its formation

Membership

A Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) works with MPs, service providers, and decision makers in order to present the views of their constituents to them. Deputy Members of Youth Parliament are also elected, although not every MYP has a deputy. Deputies work with and support their Member of Youth Parliament locally and regionally, but are not entitled to attend the Annual Sitting or other national events – unless their MYP is unable to.

There are over 600 MYPs and deputies (DMYPs).

Elections

The UK Youth Parliament elections are held every one or two years (depending on the local authority), with all young people between the ages of 11–18 being entitled to vote. In England, over 90 percent of the local education authorities hold UKYP elections

Young people elect their local area's MYPs, who provide a voice for the young people in their area. The number of MYP positions is proportionate to the population of young people in the authority.

Over one million votes were cast in the elections between 2006 and 2009. In 2008, 565,802 young people voted, with 1,625 standing as candidates from across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Outside of England, partner organisations undertake the elections; in Scotland, elections are held every two years for young people to elect their local Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP). The Scottish Youth Parliament then internally appoints sixteen of their members to represent the nation as their Members of the UK Youth Parliament which means that Scottish MYPs hold a dual mandate as both a MYP and a MSYP. In Wales a similar system is used by the Children and Young People's Assembly for Wales, and in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Youth Forum.

Annual Sitting

The Annual Sitting is the parliament's main yearly meeting, which all MYPs attend. It takes place on a university campus over three days. Proceedings include keynote speeches from political figures, followed by question and answer sessions. Past speakers include Hazel Blears, Ben Bradshaw, and Des Browne. MYPs also hold debates on topical issues, undertake training in campaigning, democracy and leadership, and consult with outside organisations such as the Ministry of Justice, BBC Trust and Department for Transport.

At each Annual Sitting, a manifesto is created, in which MYPs aim to fully represent the issues that affect their constituents in a single document. Policies are developed based on seven key areas: Culture, Media & Sport, Education & Employment, Empowering Young People, Health, International Matters, Law & Society, and Transport, Environment and Rural Affairs. This manifesto is then presented to government as a current overview of young peoples’ views.

The 9th Annual Sitting was held at the University of Kent from 24 July to 27 July 2009. Keynote speakers included John Bercow MP and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The keynote speakers were:

UKYP's 10th Annual Sitting for 2010 was held at the Ulster University marking the 1st time in the event's history to be held off the mainland of Britain between Friday 23 July and Monday 26 July.

UKYP held its 11th Annual Sitting in 2011 at the University of Leeds from Friday 22 July to Sunday 24 July. From this sitting onwards, the event was shortened by a day and a night. UKYP were joined by the following speakers:

The 12th UKYP Annual Sitting for 2012 took place at the University of Nottingham over the weekend of 27–29 July.

The 13th UKYP Annual Sitting for 2013 again took place at the University of Leeds. Speakers included Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable; John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons and Pamela Warhurst Incredible Edible

The 14th UKYP Annual Sitting for 2014 took place at the University of Lancaster over the weekend of 25–27 July. Keynote Speakers included John Bercow; Speaker of the House of Commons, Maggie Atkinson; Children's Commissioner for England and Kamal Hyman; a previous Member of Youth Parliament for Peterborough

The 15th UKYP Annual Sitting for 2015 took place at the University of Exeter over the weekend of 31 July - 2 August. It was the first time it was held back in Exeter since 2008. Keynote Speakers included John Bercow; Speaker of the House of Commons, Jonny Chatteron; founder of the campaign group Campaign BootCamp, and Siân James; former Labour Party Member of Parliament for Swansea East. As well as the traditional workshops and debates on manifesto policy, MYPs in attendance also agreed to commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta during UKYP's House of Commons sitting, which was held on 13 November 2015.

UKYP'S 16th Annual Sitting for 2016 took place at the University of York, between 22–24 July. Keynote speakers included once again John Bercow; Speaker of the House of Commons and Gulwali Passarlay, the author of the highly successful book "The Lightless Sky", which reflects on his journey getting out of war torn Afghanistan as a Refugee and creating a good life in the United Kingdom. A special part of 2016's House of Commons debate, which took place on November 11 MYP's agreed a 30-minute extension at the beginning of proceedings to state members feelings for "A better, kinder democracy." This is in the aftermath of the UK EU membership referendum which devided the country and brought about spikes in hate crime and the vote to Leave the European Union.

In 2017, UKYP's 17th Annual Sitting is due to take place at Liverpool Hope University between 28–30 July 2017. John Bercow; Speaker of the House of Commons is due to attend the event.

Circles of Influence

The annual Circles of Influence aimed to focus on key youth issues, by engaging government departments, public organisations and young people in an exciting debate format. It involved around 200 MYPs holding discussions seated in a circular shape.

The event was first held in 2006, and took place at the British Museum. It has focused on topics including talent, leadership, and intergenerational relations. Prominent attendees included Tessa Jowell, Lord Taylor and Harriet Harman.

House of Lords debates

In May 2008, the UKYP was granted permission to hold a debate between over 300 MYPs in the House of Lords, making it one of only two organisations to ever use the venue for non-Parliamentary proceedings, the other being the English Speaking Union for their International Mace Final on 12 May 2007. The event was chaired by the Lord Speaker Baroness Hayman and was broadcast on BBC Parliament.

The debates held were:

2007–09

Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested that members of the UK Youth Parliament could have annual access to the House of Commons chamber in 2007, but this did not come about until March 2009, when a motion was passed to allow the UK Youth Parliament to use the House of Commons for that year's annual meeting. However, a Conservative Member of Parliament objected, which forced a vote to be taken on the issue, also employing a procedure called "I spy strangers" (historically used to expel disruptive spectators, but now mostly to disrupt the House's business) to take business in the House beyond 7:00pm and stifle any possible debate on the issue. On 12 March, a second debate was held in the House of Commons with a vote set to be taken four days later.

On 16 March 2009, 189 Members of Parliament voted to allow the UK Youth Parliament to debate in the House of Commons, with 16 votes of opposition by Conservative backbenchers. It was the first time in history that the House of Commons chamber was used by a group other than MPs.

An online vote was held from July to determine the debate topics, which were:

The debates took place in the House of Commons chamber on Friday 30 October 2009, from 11am to 3:30pm. The session was recorded in Hansard, and the morning debates were broadcast on BBC Parliament the same day. The final two debates were televised later in the week.

The debates were chaired by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, who closed the event with a dramatic speech to MYPs in which he described the British National Party as "a poison which we could well do without". The Speaker is usually expected to remain impartial, so as not to compromise his authority, but in this case was able to express personal opinion because the ornamental mace that indicates Parliament is sitting was not in place.

2010

In 2010 a debate was held to disuses the possibility of the youth parliament returning for a second sitting. This resulted in the decision to allow their return not only for that year, but every year for the remainder of the sitting of the current parliament.

UKYP's 2010 Debate took place on 29 October, again chaired by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons with the topics chosen for debate being selected from an Online Ballot. It was broadcast live on Parliament's Website & BBC Parliament.

As reported on the UK Youth Parliament's official website, the results of the five issues that were debated are listed as follows:

Therefore, "Should reduced transport fares for young people be protected from spending cuts?" became UKYP's National Campaign for 2011.

2011

In 2011, the Members of Youth Parliament again debated in the House of Commons on 4 November. This time five topics were chosen by over 65,000 young people. The event was chaired by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, after his persistence in supporting the youth parliament. The sitting was broadcast on BBC Parliament but this time live from 11:00am – 4:00pm.

Following the debates, the motion entitled 'Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all' was chosen as UKYP's National Campaign for 2012.

2012

In 2012 and for the fourth time, Members of UKYP gathered in the House of Commons on 23 November, with the topics again being chosen through the Make Your Ballot. There was a large increase in turnout. From 65,000 in 2011, over 253,000 took part to choose the five topics that were debated. Again it was chaired by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and was broadcast live via Parliament's Website & BBC Parliament from 11:00-16:00. ‘A Curriculum To Prepare Us For Life’ received 154 votes from the 295 cast and therefore became UKYP's 2013 National Campaign.

2013

In 2013, Members of UKYP came together for the fifth year in a row to debate on the green benches on 15 November, the top five issues chosen through the Make Your Mark Ballot. A record 478,386 young people took part, an increase of over 225,000 from 2012. In a difference to choosing campaigns, Members of UKYP chose two campaigns for 2014; one UK-wide issue and one devolved issue (England only). It was chaired like the other debates by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and broadcast live on Parliament's Website & BBC Parliament from 11:00-16:00.

Following the debates in which Nick Hurd MP, then Minister for Civil Society stated that 'Old shouldn't dominate politics', ‘Votes For 16 and 17 Year Olds In All Public Elections’ was prioritised as the UK Priority Campaign for 2014, whilst ‘A Curriculum To Prepare Us For Life’ was voted as the priority campaign for England.

2014

The 2014 UKYP sitting in the House of Commons took place on 14 November with the biggest media attention in the sitting's six-year history. Once more chaired by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, the topics were chosen through 876,488 ballots, around 14.8% of the UK's 11-18-year-old population. The proceedings were broadcast on Parliament's website as tradition but were only shown through the BBC via their Democracy Live Site; the reason for this was due to the Scottish National Party's Annual Autumn Conference commencing that day. However, it was broadcast between 20:20-00:00 on BBC Parliament that day to give chance for viewers to watch if they couldn't watch online. Also, for the first time the event was covered by Sky News on the world's biggest video sharing site, YouTube through their 'Stand Up Be Counted' campaign, which was launched in the summer of 2014.

Before the debates on campaigns occurred, MYPs held a special commemoration marking the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. Thirteen MYPs were selected by a video application process to speak from the Dispatch Boxes on how the war affected either their families of region followed by one minute of silence. This was agreed on at UKYP's Annual Sitting in Lancaster that summer.

Once the debates and speeches from Leader of the House of Commons, William Hague, Natascha Engel MP and Tessa Munt MP had taken place, the following information shows the results of the two votes; one for the UK-wide 2015 issue and like 2013's debate, one devolved issue for England:

UK-wide issue:

England-wide issue:

Therefore, 'Everyone should be paid at least the Living Wage' was chosen as UKYP's UK Campaign for 2015 whiles 'Mental Health services should be improved by our help' became UKYP's 2015 Campaign for England.

2015

The 2015 sitting took place on November 13, following the counting of 969,992 Make Your Mark Ballots that were cast through the ballot.

After the debates occurred, a special 30 minute debate entitled "My Magna Carta" was held, 800 years after the historic document was first signed.

The information below states the results of the ballots, to choose what of the debated topics would become the two priority campaigns for 2016:

UK Wide:

• Working together to combat racism and religious discrimination: 155

• Everyone should be paid at least the Living Wage: 117

Tackling Racism and Religious Discrimination therefore became the UK Wide campaign for 2016, and became the inquiry subject for the year's Youth Select Committee.

Devolved:

• Mental health services should be improved with our help: 176

• A curriculum to prepare us for life: 110

• Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all: 33

The existing Mental Health campaign was there re-selected as the devolved campaign for 2016.

Paul Boskett Memorial Trophy

In 2014 the introduction of the Paul Boskett Debate Lead Trophy was introduced. Every region elects someone to represent them and speak at the Dispatch Box and the strongest speaker is now awarded; the name comes from the late Paul Boskett MBE, who died in 2014 aged 59; he worked and was a lead figure within the British Youth Council. Paul is cited as a major inspiration for many young people and seen as a key champion of youth voice. The first Debate Lead Champion was Ife Grillo who now sits as Vice Chair to the British Youth Council, he represented the London Borough of Hackney.

Regional

Members of Youth Parliament in England are split into nine geographical regions, which meet and work together regularly: London, East Midlands, West Midlands, South West, South East, North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humberside, East of England.

Regional meetings known as conventions take place three times a year (June, October and December) and last around a day. Members share news, issues and resources, in addition to taking part in training to help them in their role, relevant Government Consultations and within the October Convention, Elections occur to decide regional representatives to be a Debate Lead for UKYP's House of Commons Debate and the UKYP Procedure's Group for the following year (1 February to 31 January).

Campaigns

The UK Youth Parliament launched the "Make Your Mark" ballot in 2011. The purpose of the ballot to get young people from across the UK to determine which five topics the UK Youth Parliament would debate within the House of Commons. Over 65,000 young people completed the ballot after several months of campaigning.

The five issues being debated in the House of Commons chamber are:

1. "Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all"
2. "No to tuition fees, yes to graduate tax"
3. "Zero tolerance towards bullying in schools"
4. "End child poverty"
5. "A Greener future for Britain"

On 4 November 2011, Members of Youth Parliament came from across the UK to debate and vote at House of Commons the most important issue to campaign on in 2012. The winning campaign topic was "Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all".

2012's sitting chose ‘A Curriculum To Prepare Us For Life’ as the 2013 National Campaign. Over 253,000 young people took part.

In 2013, ‘Votes For 16 and 17 Year Old's In All Public Elections’ was prioritised as the UK Priority Campaign for 2014, whilst ‘A Curriculum To Prepare Us For Life’ was voted as the priority campaign for England. A new record of 478,386 young people cast a vote.

In 2014 876,488 young people helped to choose the House of Commons topics; over 14.8% of the UK's 11-18 year old population. 'Everyone should be paid at least the Living Wage' was chosen as UKYP's UK Campaign for 2015 with a National Campaign Day occurring on 24 January 2015. Also 'Mental Health services should be improved by our help' became UKYP's 2015 Campaign for England.

Procedures Group

Decisions regarding the development and progression of the organisation is undertaken by the Procedures Group, made up of one MYP elected from each region and nation (known as "PGs"), for a 12-month term from 1 February to 31 January the following year. Their main focus is "key decisions relating to the membership and the programme of work, within the given strategic boundaries".

They meet a minimum of four times a year to represent their regions nationally, coordinate campaign efforts and organise events such as the Annual Sitting. Reports are taken back to MYPs at their regional conventions & other meetings.

Management and support

The British Youth Council manages the UK Youth Parliament. The British Youth Council won a bid in 2011, granted by the Department for Education to lead a national Youth Voice Service. Youth Voice will support young people in influencing local and national Government decision making in England, and provide continued support for the UK Youth Parliament.

The corporate and administrative governance is overseen by the Board of Trustees of the British Youth Council.

Praise

The organisation has been endorsed by former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron. It has also been endorsed by former Liberal Democrat Party Leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. In 2009, Brown described the UK Youth Parliament as "a symbol of the politics we should all strive for - politics that bring people together to work for what is best for us all."

In 2006, the organisation's Head of Programmes Kate Parish was given a National Council for Voluntary Youth Services Award, for her "commendable dedication to the development of UK Youth Parliament".

In 2008, the UK Youth Parliament was given the Positive Images award by the Children & Young People Now magazine for exposing young people’s experiences of the current levels of sex and relationships education in a high-profile publicity campaign. In 2009, the organisation also received a Brook special achievement award for this campaign.

Criticism

The organisation has been described by Daily Mail columnist Tom Utley as "sublimely fatuous", after MYPs co-signed an open letter with public figures including Davina McCall and Polly Toynbee to The Times. The letter protested against the lack of sufficient sex and relationships education in schools, and that the UK Youth Parliament believe that this has led to increasing teenage pregnancy. Utley argues that there is already far too much sex education and that increasing it would only lead to more underage sex.

A study by the University of Colorado found that youth participation organisations in the UK, including the UK Youth Parliament, needed to "tackle the unintentional practice of tokenism". The paper concludes that "failing to act upon [young people's] opinions or take them very seriously" once they are identified is often a cause of frustration amongst participants.