Decision Maker: Cabinet, Assembly
Decision status: Approved
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: No
Councillor John White, the Lead Member of the Safer and Stronger Community Select Committee, introduced the report and outlined some of the key recommendations arsing from the review. He offered his thanks to Members and Officers who contributed to the review and concluded that the Borough should not be punishing or demonising young people but should integrate them into society.
Councillor Lee Waker commended the report and stated that consultations and surveys are an effective way of engaging with young people and this should be done across all wards throughout the Borough.
Councillor Justice remarked that the Borough had a number of buildings that could be used to provide facilities for children and young people and expressed the view that more should be done to realise these opportunities.
Councillor Bailey also commended the report and expressed the view that young people were not receiving enough support and that some faith groups are better resourced to cater for young people in their own communities compared to those young people outside the faith communities.
Responding to both Councillor Justice and Bailey’s comments, Councillor McDermott stated that a number of schools in the Borough were now open in the evenings enabling young people to socialise after school hours. He stressed that these facilities should be publicised to young people.
Councillors R Gill, the Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Wellbeing, and Councillor Vincent added that there were facilities and activities in place for young people to socialise throughout the Borough, citing the youth club in Longbridge Ward as a good example. This facility and others had proved to be successful and attracted young people from all nationalities. Similarly, the StreetBase Cards initiative had also been extremely successful in the Longbridge Ward and would be rolled out across the Borough.
The Assembly therefore agreed the following recommendations:
· Promotion of how the Council is working to address ASB in the borough
· Raising awareness of what support is available to victims of ASB
· Challenging negative perceptions and stereotyping of young people in relation to ASB
And that this work be led by the Divisional Director of Community Safety and Neighbourhood Services, and requests that a report on progress against this target be brought back to the Committee within six months.
1) How to ensure that all young people, including NEETs, receive a card. This will involve distribution options that are not solely based around schools.
2) The financial viability of using the card to incentivise a move away from ASB by persistent offenders, either through penalties (such as rescinding the card or credits) or rewards for good behaviour (such as additional credits).
Publication date: 26/03/2010
Date of decision: 24/03/2010
Decided at meeting: 24/03/2010 - Assembly
Accompanying Documents: