Participation by Children and Young People in decision making

Listening and, where possible, acting on the views of children and young people is one of our key priorities. The views of young people have made an essential contribution to the development of the Children and Young People's Plan, as have those of parents, carers and staff.

How children and young people have influenced the Children and Young People's Plan

Over 600 children and young people aged 3 to 19 years from across Buckinghamshire took part on a consultation during August and September to have their say on the development of the Buckinghamshire Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP), 2009 to 2011.

A variety of methods were used to capture their views, including an online survey, face to face interviews and a video diary room, which proved to be very popular.

Children and young people were asked to give their views on the following priorities being proposed for Buckinghamshire:

• Working with children and young people that most need extra support
• Providing extra support to children and young people at times of change in their lives
• Helping children, young people and their families as soon as problems begin to prevent situations from getting worse
• Supporting families to provide the best home for their children
• Listening to children and young people and taking their views into account
• The majority of children and young people agreed that all these issues were important things for the CYPP to focus on

They strongly agreed that extra help to support children and young people who most need it is key and that the support for children and young people at times of change in their life was particularly important.

The consultation was a valuable opportunity for children and young people to express their opinions and concerns. They identified a number of priorities and suggested ways in which improvements could be made.  These views will have a real impact and influence on what is provided for them across Buckinghamshire.

Many thanks to all the children and young people who took part. The report with the full findings of the consultation is below.

The views of children, young people, parents and carers have had a real impact on the Children and Young People’s Plan by influencing the targets set within the Local Priorities for Improvement and our response to the ECM Outcomes Framework National Targets. This includes the vision statements set out by children and young people.

It has not been possible to address all the issues raised at this stage due to resource limitations. Those issues not addressed have been identified as Medium Term Priorities and a lead person identified to progress this work.

Progress on all targets will be monitored and evaluated on a regular basis and action will be taken to address areas of concern. Children and young people will form an essential element to this process.