Council Hears Views of Young People Before Setting Budget

5th March 2021

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Young people have had the opportunity to tell City of Wolverhampton Council’s deputy leader their views on the challenges they face, the opportunities available to them and how the city should recover from the pandemic. Cllr Louise Miles, deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, recently met with members of the city’s youth council as part of the council’s budget consultation. The youth council is made up of young people from across the city aged between 11 and 18 who have been elected by their peers to provide a voice for their age group. At the virtual meeting with Cllr Miles, the youth councillors were able to ask questions and provide feedback on various topics. Cllr Miles said: “I really enjoyed meeting with members of the youth council to hear about what matters to our city’s young people. “The views of our young people are very important and we are listening through sessions like this and our Youth Engagement Strategy - #YES - where we canvassed the views of 12,000 young people. “The impact the pandemic is having on our young people in terms of the effect on their mental health and fears about their future was something they raised with us. They want to know that everything possible will be done to make their education a priority, that there will be jobs and opportunities for them in the future and that proper support for their wellbeing is in place. “We will be taking all of their feedback on board as we set the budget for 2021-2022 and future years.” Tom Careless, chair of the youth council, said “I have recently been elected as the new chair of the youth council and was present at the meeting where Cllr Miles presented the city council budget and update on the council’s Relighting the City campaign. “I’m very excited that the youth council can play an active role in this piece of work and look forward to working with new members of the youth council to achieve the aims and ambitions for the City of Wolverhampton."

Full council meets tonight (MAR 3) to vote on the budget for 2021-2022.

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