Agenda item

Housing and Communities - To receive a short presentation and report (C-025-2020-21) from members of the Youth Council on their recent survey concerning the effects of Covid 19 on the district’s youth.

1. The Cabinet received and acknowledged the #Your Say survey report and findings undertaken by the Epping Forest Youth Council, supported by the Council’s Community, Culture and Wellbeing service.

2. The Cabinet noted that Service providers worked together to address the increasing pressures on young people’s poor mental health and their concerns about their future educational opportunities;

3. The Cabinet noted that officers would ensure that appropriate work identified as a result of the Survey would fit with and contribute to the Council’s Economic Development – Local Skills and Opportunities project; and

4. The Cabinet noted that the Youth Council would:

· continue the work with the CCG and introduce Youth Council representation on the Citizens Panel (One Health & Care Partnership);

· Continue promotion of youth activities and youth groups via the EFYC Youth Activities Map to encourage motivation and positive mental health and wellbeing;

· Provide training through partnership working for the Youth Council to address the issues raised in the report and signpost young people to relevant services such as bereavement, counselling services and J9 training.

5. The Housing and Community Services Portfolio Holder in conjunction with the Community and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder and relevant officers explore the above recommendations in order to find the best way to take them forward.

The Housing and Communities Portfolio Holder introduced the officers from the Council’s Youth Council and two Youth Councillors to give a presentation on their work on how the pandemic had affected the young people of the district during the period of lockdown and what effects it had on them over time.

The team manager for culture and communities, Vanessa Gayton introduced the two youth councillors who would be giving the presentation. They were Jamie Schooling and Bianca Nedelcu. The Youth Councillors explained that they had conducted a survey during July 2020, providing an opportunity for young people to share their experiences during the pandemic and express their concerns about their health and wellbeing, their future regarding their education, and mental health. The Youth Councillors hoped the findings would help shape the services for young people in 2021 and beyond.

The youth councillor shared the results of the survey with the Cabinet and other members present.

The Chairman thanked them for their presentation. Councillor Holly Whitbread said that it was a good piece of work and they had reached a significant number of people in the local population. It was an impressive and thoughtful report and the theme of economic development was particularly interesting, and vital for the young people effected. Also, the mental health project was very important with some interesting comments made. She noted that the youth council had historically found alternative grants and funding streams to fund their innovative projects and hoped they continued to look for that. The Cabinet would use their recommendations to help shape services for the future.

Councillor Bedford commented that it was an interesting report and it was good to see their work on mental health issues. He noted that as a district council we were trying to cover some of the issues around mental health.

Councillor Philip noted the plea for additional funding but as the finance portfolio holder he could not commit at this stage due to the significant challenges faced by the council.

V Gayton remarked that they were looking for a project to deliver to schools using the social distancing required nowadays.

Councillor Murray thanked them for their report and said that he enjoyed their presentation. He had been impressed by how young people had dealt with this pandemic; but noted that he had received some feedback from parents that they were not happy with the way the GCSE and ‘A’ level exams had been handled. He went on to ask the youth councillors if they had received any feedback on how the schools were supporting them since September. He was told that their schools had been generally supportive on their return and positive feedback had been received, although some of the students did feel uneasy about returning.

Councillor Patel thanked them for their presentation. He was the Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board and said that some of the recommendations could be linked up to this board. He also led on Covid recovery and would like to seek their views on this. They should come to one of the meetings and give their opinions and thoughts. The Chairman thought this was a useful way forward, there was a clear steer to have them actively engaged in this. He thought that they had already asked for a youth councillor to be involved in the Covid recovery meetings. They should be able to actively shape our community’s future.

Councillor Wixley asked about one of the questions in the survey asking if there was anything positive people could learn from this experience. One of the answers was that there were more important things in life. Was there any general change in attitude about life, what did this represent? He was told that people were starting to be more grateful for their health and were being more careful.

Councillor Heap said that yes, they were the future and if the council could help them, by pump priming for the future, then it should.

The Chairman noted that this was what we wanted to be doing and asked that the Housing and Community Services Portfolio Holder in conjunction with the Community and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder and relevant officers explore the recommendations in order to find the best way to take them forward and find a way for partnership working.

DECISION: