The British Youth Council are excited to welcome the new minister responsible for youth policy, Tracey Crouch MP. Crouch is taking over the Office for Civil Society following the departure of Rob Wilson who has been in charge of the brief since 2014.
The British Youth Council have worked under various Government departments since 2011 to deliver it’s Youth Voice programme. The Youth Voice programme, which is currently supported by Department for Culture, Media and Sport, includes UK Youth Parliament and Youth Select Committee.
The British Youth Council will be writing to welcome the Minister to the new role, however, will be highlighting concerns for the size of the brief which will include other responsibilities. It is our longstanding belief, that the Government should appoint a Minister solely responsible for young people – a role which has not existed since 2010.
Ife Grillo, Vice Chair – Participation and Development, British Youth Council said: “We can’t wait to continue our work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport but we are particularly concerned about the size of Tracey Crouch’s brief and we’ll be seeking out reassurances at the earliest opportunity! We have repeatedly made it clear we believe a Minister for Youth should be appointed and we’ll be using this opportunity to highlight that issue again.”
We will also use this opportunity to remind the Government of the six issues we highlighted in the lead-up to the General Election which included the underfunding of youth services and the ensuring young people have a meaningful opportunity to influence Brexit negotiations which are due to start next week.
Anna Barker, Chair, British Youth Council said: “We look forward to working with Tracey Crouch going forward, to ensure young people’s voices continued to be heard by the Government. With the reported increase in young people turning up to cast their votes, it’s absolutely imperative that young people are given a chance to influence Government policy going forward!”