Agenda and draft minutes

Hear from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners Office about their budget proposals and give your views.

Helen King, finance officer at the Office of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, attended to explain the upcoming budget consultation and get views of young people on the service.

·       Each household receives a Tax bill each March that pays for local authority and services and is paid monthly across the year.

·       44% of Police funding and 64% of Fire service funding comes from local household tax, the rest comes from a central government grant.

·       The government set a limit on what the OPFCC can ask households to pay each year.

·       The Commissioner is aiming to recruit to 1501 police officers locally, with 300 having joined over the past year.

·       The OPFCC are focusing on increasing the number of neighbourhood officers in your communities.

TW suggested not all young people feel comfortable speaking to the police. There is often a fear of police brutality.

LW added that young people consulted in Bellinge echoed this, with many young people seeing police presence as a negative and it being linked to something scary happening in the community.

HB asked why 1501?

HK – that is what can be afforded although would like more.

HB asked, aside from PC wages, what the money pays for?

HK – primarily other roles such as PCSOs and vehicles costs including fuel and maintenance.

The forum described to HK the need for PCSOs and PCs to be more engaged with public, particularly young people, to build relationships and rapport, and increase positive interactions to build confidence and trust.

Interaction in secondary is limited – knife arches and searches can feel really scary and intimidating when you don’t see police at any other time. No follow up/relationship building. Agreed there is not consistent approach to young people across schools – each of the forum members had completely different experiences of police interaction through school and this shapes how they feel about Police.

Discussed the ‘Have a Go’ Days with Fire Service and possibility of one being put on for young people to learn more about careers in Police and Fire service. Laura suggested Mereway is less accessible for young people who don’t drive/parents don’t drive. Action: Helen to progress this and share info back to Aimee.
Update – Aimee is in touch with Fire, looking to arrange a date in Spring for Young people at Mounts Fire station.

Discuss case studies of other Youth Councils and work together to create a proposal for the West Northamptonshire Youth Council

Aimee shared information from recent meeting with leader of Epping Forest Youth Council. Forum discussed elements they would like to take forward for the West Northants Youth Council and what they would add.

·       25 seats available to schools and 5 independent seats
One per secondary school (12 Northampton, 4 Daventry, 7 South Northants) and open to applications from young people from a range of backgrounds including Home educated and young carers.

·       Main elections to be held every 2 years, with interim elections to fill any vacancies.

·       Would prefer a Youth Council lanyard over a uniform.

·       Monthly meetings, including meeting with Cabinet to review/ feed into decisions.

·       Yearly team building day or residential to build relationships between young people. This would include intensive training for leadership, confidence and other skills.

Work with Free 2 Talk to plot out youth activity across West Northants. Speak with young people in the town on the youth spaces they access to add to the map.

Laura spoke to the forum about mapping out the places they live and what is available for young people in Northampton.

There is nothing really for young people that does not cost money to do. Discussed lack of legitimate work options for young people and how this makes people more vulnerable to criminal exploitation.

Youth activities were mapped out and then surveys and maps were taken out into the town over lunch to engage with other young people in the town centre.

Action: Laura to collate the information and bring back to the group.

This will provide a starting point for the development of the youth provision website and map. This would be interactive online with links directly through the youth providers which will ensure it is up to date and removes need to someone to update the website constantly.

Group considered the size of West Northants and likelihood of needing 3 individual maps for each of the individual areas.

Finalise our workshop for the Youth Summit, who is taking on which roles, and have a run through of delivering the workshop.

Lissy has spent some time adding to the PowerPoint presentation recently – thank you Lissy!

The forum went through the slides and allocated some out for individual leads. Lissy will no longer be available but will record the definitions and add sound clip to the slide as her on the day contribution.

Action: All to ensure permission forms are returned for attending the Youth Summit! Speak to Aimee asap if unsure.

Action: Aimee/Debs to arrange big card answers for the question slides and bring Hate Crime and Voice leaflets to the event.

Discuss plans for UK Parliament week event on Tuesday 15 November and decide on roles for the event/other final decisions.

UK Parliament Week has been booked for Tuesday 15 November, as requested by forum members. All to arrive at the Court Room by 4.45pm and confirm with Aimee that you are attending.

Youth Forum will lead the event with support from Aimee, Cllr King, Morcea and Debs. Roles include registration table and talking to young people attending about the Youth Council, welcoming everyone, and facilitating the ‘political speed dating’ activity.

Reps from schools across West Northants have been invited to join us for the evening.

We have a number of UK Parliament resources that we can use including some table top games, badges, ballot boxes and info booklets which we can display.
HB suggested using the ballot boxes for all young people to vote for the councillor they would elect following the event.

·       Guests will arrive from 5pm. There will be cake and drinks available and information.

·       At 5.30pm youth forum will welcome everyone and share Hate Crime workshop again.

·       5.45pm Activity begins. There will be 4 tables of councillors across the parties, young people will be split into 4 groups and will get 15 minutes at each table. Youth forum will help facilitate these discussions as well as asking their own questions.  

·       6.45pm Activity ends and pack down.

Meet with the council Regeneration team to discuss ideas and beginning planning for youth voice artwork on the boards around the market square development.

Recently the forum were approached by the Regeneration team to have a space to promote the youth voice throughout the development of the market square. During the process the square will be fenced off and these panels will be used for sharing artwork, advertising and messaging.

Unfortunately the Regeneration team had to send apologies and couldn’t join the meeting but will return to our Devcember meeting to workshop ideas and begin designing our space.

The forum will be able to be involved in both the design and application of the piece if they chose.

Forum members discussed thoughts on what we would use the space for. Ideas included elements of the Perspective report demonstrating the youth vision for Northampton, using quotes from young people about what they want for Northampton/for it to be. TW suggested simple fonts that are clear to read as this will be most accessible to all.

TW is very keen in being part of the design process as she is passionate about art and technology and is involved in a project called ‘Code your Chances’ which is developing these skills further.

Youth Summit activity – Tuesday 1 November; roller skating at Benham 5pm

Youth Summit Conference– Friday 11 November (all day)

UK Parliament Week: Cake and Debate – Tuesday 15 November 5pm

Youth Forum meeting – Weds 14 December 4.30-6.30pm

Tuesday 1 November – Youth Summit planning and roller skating 5-7pm

Thursday 10 November – Youth Summit practice session, after school.

Friday 11 November – Youth Summit event day

Tuesday 15 November – Uk Parliament Week: Cake & Debate event, Guildhall

Wednesday 14 December – Last Forum meeting of 2022, 4.30-6.30pm