The UK Youth Parliament (UNYP) is an organisation which is run by young people for young people. It has a Board of Trustees who have legal and financial responsibility for the organisation. 51% of the members of the Board are made up of young people aged between 18 and 25 who are elected by the regional groups of Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) and the three UK nations to represent their region’s views on the Board.
The UKYP also has a Procedures Group, made up of two MYPs from each English region and the three UK nations, which is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s day-to-day growth and development.
The UKYP employs members of staff to support the MYPs and their work, undertake the day to day administrative duties associated with running a national organisation, and organise events and meetings as determined by the MYP’s.
The UKYP recognises the regional boundaries of the UK, as defined by the Government and has developed a regional group supported by a regional co-ordinator in each of the nine English regions. Agreements have been developed with the national youth agencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (the Scottish Youth Parliament, Funky Dragon and the Northern Ireland Youth Forum) to ensure the young people in those areas are represented on the UKYP.
Each Local Education Authority across England represents a UKYP constituency. Each constituency has a minimum of one ‘Member of Youth Parliament’ (MYP) elected as a representative to the UKYP. The numbers of MYPs in each constituency depend upon the numbers of young people in that area. In Dudley we have two MYP’s and two deputies (DMYP’s).
Elections to the UKYP are held every year in February and representatives are elected for one year. In England the MYPs in each region come together five to six times a year. They meet to discuss the issues that are of importance to them locally, identify key themes and look at ways these can be addressed at a regional and national level.
Each Regional Group elects two representatives to sit on each of its seven Select Committees:
- Transport & Employment
- Culture, Media & Sport
- Health
- Environment & Rural Affairs
- Law & Society
- Education & Skills
- International Matters
Select committee representatives take responsibility for driving forward campaigns to address the issues identified by young people in these areas.
The UKYP brings together all the MYPs from across the country on an annual basis. The MYPs meet to discuss the issues that matter to them and their peer group that they have identified at a regional level. The annual sitting produces a Youth Manifesto / Agenda for Action which is presented to the Government for a formal response.
Organisational Purpose
The United Kingdom Youth Parliament (UKYP) aims to give the young people of the UK between the ages of 11 and 18 a voice, which will be heard and listened to by local and national government, providers of services for young people and other agencies who have an interest in the views and needs of young people. It is an independent, national charity that has a rolling programme of activities across the year. This includes an Annual Sitting, Regional Meetings, and regular dialogue with ministers, including the Prime Minister and Opposition Spokespeople and inputs to policy and programme development.
It is the UKYP’s aim that young people in the UK will be aware that they have their own Youth Parliament, and that providing they are aged between 11 and 18 years old (inclusive) they have the right to vote for a Member of Youth Parliament (MYP), and the right to stand as an MYP if they so wish.
Objectives of the UKYP;
- The UKYP is composed of representatives aged between 11 and 18 years old from across the UK. The UKYP particularly encourages the involvement of young people, who are socially excluded, but also representation from established groups such a local youth councils and individuals.
- The UKYP ensures that the young people of the UK are given a voice on any issue that affects them and as laid out in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- The UKYP gives the young people of the UK an opportunity to be involved in a democratic process at a national level.
- The UKYP empowers young people to take positive action within their local communities based upon their issues of concern. The UKYP encourages community action for social change.
- The UKYP is a non-party political organisation, and as such, seeks to represent no party political view. The UKYP is solely issue based.
Common Purpose with the DCP
The DCP and UKYP both base their priorities for action on a strong foundation of consultation, and a commitment to partnership working in order to achieve their objectives. The UKYP places a real emphasis on working in partnership with stakeholders to develop effective, lasting solutions that bring about positive change for children and young people. The UKYP is keen to develop new and sustainable relationships with a range of partners that share similar objectives.
The select committee areas within the UKYP manifesto closely reflect the six priority areas of the DCP, thereby providing an excellent opportunity for local issues identified through the DCP to be taken to a regional and national level and represented to relevant Government departments.
Drivers
The UKYP is run by young people for young people, and elected representatives consult other 11-18 year olds locally to ensure that the local, regional and national campaigns which are taken forward are based on young people’s needs. These issues are stated in the West Midlands Regional Manifesto and the UKYP National Manifesto (which can be downloaded from the UKYP website – link below).
Representatives elected to the select committees take the lead on driving these issues forward with relevant government departments and other partner agencies.
Benefits and Constraints from LSP Engagement
Benefits
- Ensuring that young people have an input in to the decision making of the various groups of the DCP.
- Influencing developments of priorities and objectives to reflect the needs of young people.
Constraints
The main constraint on the development of the UKYP is staff resources and funding. The UKYP is still a relatively young organisation and has achieved much since its inception in 1999. It has grown considerably in terms of its membership, has continued to engage more young people in elections and other events each year and is striving to become more representative and ensure its members reflect the diversity of young people living in the UK.
The UKYP relies heavily on the support of grant making trusts, private sponsorship and the goodwill of many Local Education Authorities.
More Information
Other things you need to know
The UKYP is an independent national charity which receives the support of over 300 MPs from across the political spectrum and the personal endorsement of the three party leaders.
Find out more:
Further information on the UKYP can be found at www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk
