UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 1

Executive summary
Introduction
Aims
Methodology
Budget
Challenges
Evaluation and learning
Feedback
Key recommendations for 2012
Appendices
3
4
5
6
3
3
6
12
13
15
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 2

Three hundred Members of the UK Youth Parliament from across the country gathered in Leeds for the 11th Annual Sitting of the UK Youth Parliament (22-24 July). It was opened by the House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow MP who underlined the value and importance of the UK
Youth Parliaments role in free society, and closed by Natascha Engel MP Chair of the Backbench
Business Committee who congratulated members on their hard work and achievements over the weekend.
The Sitting also heard from Children’s Minister Tim Loughton MP, Children’s Commissioner
Maggie Atkinson, Labour politician Chris Williamson MP, NUS President Liam Burns, Chair of
Young Labour Susan Nash, and Chair of Conservative Futures Ben Howlett. MYPs also attended skills development sessions and briefings on a range of policy issues. One of the outcomes of the weekend was to refresh and update UKYP Manifesto for change and the final session saw 20 new motions adopted into the manifesto which will be published later in the year. A public youth vote will identify those to be debated in the UKYP House of Commons sitting in November.
The UK Youth Parliament programme provides a unique platform that enables young people to use their energy and passion to change the world for the better. Having engaged hundreds of thousands of 11-18 year olds over the last ten years, UKYP gives the young people of the UK a powerful voice which is 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.
Each year, Members of Youth Parliament (MYP) gather together to: share best practice; be trained in relevant skills; and meet with senior decision makers and politicians. This year, 254
MYPs convened at Leeds University 22-24 July 2001, supported by 121 Local Authority Workers from across the UK out of 152 registered Authorities across England.
2011 saw the UK Youth Parliament programme hosted by the British Youth Council (BYC). This meant that the BYC had only three months to plan and deliver a national event.
This year saw some key changes resulted from feedback received from previous years:

Consultation with UKYP members was run in April to determine what they wanted from the event

The event was shortened by one full day

A Local Authority Worker half day programme was offered

An online booking system was used

The Procedures Group (group of 20 young people elected by the regions (PG)) were involved in the design, delivery and evaluation

Regional Coordinators (RC) were involved in the design, delivery and evaluation

Registration was done by surname rather than by region

Every delegate had access to free wifi
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 3

There were two key audiences for this event. The first, elected Members of Youth Parliament
(MYP); the second, Local Authority Workers (LAW). Therefore, there were two sets of aims for this event:

Work towards a youth voice accreditation

Be trained in skills relevant to their role

Shape the House of Commons event in the autumn

Have the opportunity to meet with MYP's from across the country

Meet and debate with senior decision makers about your views and voices

Half day training programme offered

MYP's will walk away with a Youth Voice accreditation

Half day networking and sharing best practice programme offered

Meet with senior executives from the Department for Education and British Youth Council
As part of the funding application for BYC to host the UKYP programme, they had found a venue for the event in advance. Leeds University was the only venue that had the right capacity, price, location and availability for this event.
It was essential that the PG group were involved in the key design and delivery of this event, as stipulated in their role description. A weekend meeting was organized in May half-term. Soon after, the Regional Coordinators met to discuss the Annual Sitting programme, aims and objectives and offer learning from previous years.
Before the PG meeting, BYC staff collected feedback from MYPs and Local Authority Workers on what they wanted from the Annual Sitting. This created the aims of the event. A brief summary of this can be found in Appendix A. This fed into the design process. PGs were encouraged to speak to their region and gather opinions and feedback from those that had attended previous events and from those that were attending for the first time. A briefing of how young people were involved in the design and delivery of this event can be found in appendix B.
A brief timeline of how the event was executed can be found below:
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 4

Time Description
April Venue booked and initial meeting with key staff
Online consultation to membership taken place
Online booking open
May PG meeting to design programme
RC meeting to design programme
Contact sponsors to support event
Key documents available for download from website e.g. risk assessment, insurance certificate, safeguarding policy, media consent forms, code of conduct, template press release, joining instructions, workshop choice forms, in case of emergency protocol, biographies of speakers, social media information and draft programme.
Invite sent to external speakers and facilitators
June Online booking closes
Order merchandise
Draft rooming list and send venue additional requirements of delegates
Send external speakers and facilitators briefings
Invoices sent to delegates
Chase delegates for forms
July Print out materials
Final staff briefings
The event
This year a contingency payment of £25,401 was made to support the funding of this event. The ticket prices did not cover the event costs. An adult one day conference would with Haymarket
Publishing can cost up to £395. The cost for the entirety of the weekend, including accommodation, food, full programme and evening entertainment cost £250 per delegate.
Description Cost (£)
PG planning residential (including travel) -6,000
Venue
Merchandise e.g. T-shirts, lanyards etc
Staff travel, accommodation and meal out
Youth Worker programme (10 rooms, travel)
Technology e.g. silent disco, amp, radios etc
Evaluation meeting
Misc e.g. stationary, removal,
Ticket sales
Contingency
-87,000
-7,011
-3,750
-2,500
-7,965
-3,000
-4,675
96,500
25,401
Total £0
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 5

There were many different challenges to organize this event. The top four:
1. 3 months to plan and execute national event
2. Limited evaluation and documents from last sitting
3. PGs not had induction and training
4. Venue was only the one available
All of these challenges are easily overcome for the Annual Sitting 2012.
• 260 consultation e-surveys filled in, in March
•
150 delegate evaluation forms completed
• 9 staff evaluation forms completed
Over 30% of delegates and staff completed an Annual Sitting Evaluation form. This has allowed us to draw both good qualitative and quantitative data to help plan UK Youth Parliament Annual
Sitting 2012.
Over 70% of feedback was good to excellent from both staff, MYPs and Local Authority Workers.
How would you rate the event?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent .
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 6

35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
What did you think about the booking process?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
25.0%
What did you think about the pre-event information?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
What did you think about registration on the day?
1 is poor, 10 is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 7

What did you think about your delegate pack?
1 is poor, 10 is
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
What did you think about the food?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
What did you think about the accommodation facilities?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent.
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 8

What did you think about the workshop and plenary rooms?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
How helpful did you find the staff?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
50.0%
45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1
How helpful did you find the PG team?
1 is poor, 10 is excellent.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 9

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
How was the…
%
Excellent
% Very good
%
Good
%
Average
%
Poor
Friday opening ceremony?
Friday worker briefing?
Friday creative workshops?
Friday UKYP Variety show?
Saturday market place?
Saturday decision maker speed questioning?
Saturday question time
(workers)
36
5
15
10
5
17
5
33
8
21
17
14
18
4
20
19
15
28
31
17
21
7
9
6
18
14
17
12
0
0
1
10
1
2
4
Saturday silent disco?
Sunday UKYP Big vote?
Sunday open space
(workers)?
37
21
5
22
21
3
25
19
17
9
12
5
Sunday closing ceremony? 31 31 23 13
D id we me e t the a ims o f the e v e nt? (MY P )
1
12
5
2
0
2
7
0
0
%
Very poor
0
2
1
6
1
1
% N/A
3
56
41
10
35
27
55
3
8
64
0
Yes
No
Unanswered
D id we me e t the a ims o f the e v e nt? (Y o uth wo rk e r)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Half-day training programme offered
MYPs start work on the Youth
Voice
Half day networking and sharing best
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report practice programme offered
Meet with decision makers and influencers
Yes
No
Unanswered
10

As a result of attending this event
…I am more likely to do something
… I have the skills to make a difference
… I will pass on what I have learnt to others
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
M ot iva te d
Strongly
Agree Agree
66
60
63
I a m fe e ling ...
Ti re d
Un mo tiv at ed
Un ite re ste d
Em po we re d
78
70
73
Neither agree nor disagree Disagree
28
33
26
In sp ire d
En er gis ed
Fr us tra te d
Ex cit ed
1
5
4
Strongly disagree
Bo re d
0
0
2
We asked delegates to rate various parts of the programme; 1 being poor, 10 being excellent.
Below are the results in order of highest rank.
1. 99% of delegates rated the accommodation as 7/10 or over
2. 90% of delegates rated the PG team helpfulness as 7/10 or over
3. 89% of delegates rated the food as 7/10 or over
4. 88% of delegates rated the Annual Sitting overall as 7/10 or over
5. 86% of delegates rated staff friendliness and helpfulness as 7/10 or over
6. 84% of delegates rated the delegate pack as 7/10 or over
7. 79% of delegates rated the workshop and plenary rooms as 7/10 or over
8. 71% of delegates rated the registration as 7/10 or over
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 11

9. 70% of delegates rated the booking process as 7/10 or over
10. 55% of delegates rated the pre-event information as 7/10 or over
Overall, the feedback for the event was incredibly positive. There are items that need to be improved for next year. Suggestions can be found in the key recommendations on page 13.
Some quotes from staff and the PG team:
- As a re-elected PG, the experience of planning the sitting this year was a lot less stressful and therefore a better experience for the PG and staff
- Such an amazing improvement on last year
– thank you!
- Balance of PG facilitation and external facilitation – some good, some bad
- PGs could have done more before the sitting. They need workshop plans earlier. Same format next year would help – you are tweaking, not re-writing!
- Workers praised the programme and activities at the sitting as a lot better value for money in terms of outcomes f or their young people compared to the “jolly” of UKYP10
- Nice structured, relevant and good flow
- UKYP Unity (as opposed to last year where there was a lot of regional unity)
- Achieved a lot on the PG residential and a lot of planning was done. Definitely beneficial.
- Fantastic religious service
- Market place was helpful and good for other charities
- Media reps had a clear role and were always busy
- Annual Sitting newspaper really good and good evidence
- Beautiful venue
As well as collecting evaluation forms, a number of delegates and external facilitators gave verbal feedback or supported our twitter campaign. A selection can be found below:

I'm liking this new 'tangible outcomes' approach in @UKYP. Very much.

UKYP is full of the most amazing young people. MYP's, DMYP's, PG's - you all rock.
 Children’s Commissioner: Great news, @timloughton told @UKYP he'll ask PM to give up his job for Takeover Day. Tim's onboard, join in too: http://bit.ly/bgIUoV ^MA

Well done @UKYP for amazing weekend in #Leeds for 11th annual sitting #ukyp11. Lively debates for more #cyp community involvement. ^MA

Decision makers beware; young people are making their mark. #ukyp11

Voting in our new policies for our manifesto! Exciting stuff! It’s like being on a TV show!

"Don't ever let anyone tell you, you are too small to make a difference". @TimLoughton MP

Sounds like @UKYP have attracted high quality speakers for #ukyp11 - well done to all involved!
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 12


Bit of advice, the UK is crying out for good politicians with real life contributions to make.
Service not career, public not self.

"Under the skin, we are all the same". Strong, powerful & moving speech from Holocaust survivor Iby Knills
“I just wanted to say a massive well done and thank you for an amazing UKYP Annual Sitting last weekend. It was my forth sitting and I can honestly say it was one of the most organised and stress free sittings I have been too.
I liked the fact that the ev ent had structure, a purpose, things to take away and that MYP’s had the opportunity to vote on the manifesto. Staff were really helpful and on the ball at all times.
My young people really enjoyed themselves and are really excited about the year ahead. They loved some of the training events so much they want to recreate them for our Youth Cabinet. As they missed their regional residential this year I was worried they might not get it
– but they so did!
Well done and Thank you again ” Emma Hosking, Local Support Worker, South East Region
“My name is Jake Hillyard, and I’m a member of the United Kingdom Youth Parliament for
Norwich North, (East of England) I’m writing this letter to you, to personally thank you for all your hard work and effort you put into this years Annual Sitting. I think the event was a very big success and I really enjoyed every minute of it, I hope that you enjoyed the event as much as the rest of us.
” Jake Hillyard, MYP.
Can be found in Appendix C
1. Keep the programme format similar now we have got it nearly right
2. Printed programme and banners worked well and looked professional, keep for next year
3. Creating a product that MYPs could leave with worked well, keep this part of the programme e.g. manifesto, training, newspaper
4. Half-day programme youth worker programme worked, but question of value for money when not attended
5. Consider using external peer educators to deliver some workshops for next year to reduce workload of PGs
6. The market place allowed external organisations to showcase their work and allow joint up working with individual Local Authorities
7. Timetable a regional youth worker meeting in the programme
8. Develop the UKYP Big Vote session
9. Develop clearer links with the House of Commons event
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 13

10. Develop support for the Youth Voice Accreditation
11. Email the UKYP manifesto out to Local Authorities before the event to help prepare delegates for the event
12. Reduce the number of youth workers in attendance
13. Workshop sign up process should be part of the registration process
14. Send key information to MYPs before the event with workers copied in
45% of delegates were not happy with the pre-event information they received. We emailed information directly to Local Authority Workers to pass onto their MYPs. In some Local Authorities, the young people did not receive this information prior to the event. MYPs noted this on the evaluation form. We also received information from Local Authority Workers indicated that they were unable to open windows XP documents which caused some frustration. All the information about the event was downloadable from the BYC and UKYP websites. Better signposting to the relevant information would help rectify this next year.
30% of delegates were not happy with the booking system. This is the first time an online booking system has been used. The high number of phone calls to the office indicated that Local Authority
Workers were unfamiliar with the system. This should resolve itself when Local Authorities become used to the system. From a logistical point of view, the online system saved a considerable amount of administrative time. It is recommended to use the same system for next year, but to include the Local Authority name as part of the custom information collected.
29% of delegates were not happy with the registration process. In previous years, delegates were registered by region. This year, they were registered by surname. There were two reasons for this:
1. Space restrictions 2. To encourage a sense of UKYP national unity and start to remove the regional rivalry as seen in previous years which has evaluated badly. There was a technical problem with name badges and some people didn’t receive them. There was also a problem that some people turned up without an assigned room. Again, this was down to technical error.
Registration from a logistical point of view worked well; however, recommendations for improvements are as follows:
1. Cross check names, name badges and rooms with three different people before start of the event
2. Regions to travel together or in cluster authorities to and from the annual sitting
3. All staff and PG members to travel up and arrive the morning before the start of the annual sitting to be briefed thoroughly
21% of delegates rated the workshop and plenary rooms as below average. There were some technical difficulties with room temperatures (they were too hot) as well as space (some workshops were over attended). This was reported to Leeds University, but at the weekend, it was difficult to rectify as the necessary staff were not available.
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 14

April Econsultation results:
What would you like to see happen as a result of the annual sitting?
To network with other people from around the country
Take part in debates on the big issues
Meet Ministers and decision makers
Decide on what issues are the most important for young people
Trained in skills appropriate to my role
Talk about the future of UKYP
Be inspired to campaign
Make decisions about the House of Commons event in October
Get new ideas for my projects
Find out about what other charities and voluntary agencies are doing
Sleep
What should the venue offer the Annual Sitting?
Comfortable
Good food
Safe
Big training rooms
Access to computers
Hot showers
Short walk to workshops
Disco
Sports area
Other (please specify)
What should the programme offer young people?
Training
Debates
Engaging with decision makers
Meeting with Ministers
Workshop on how to represent those who voted for you (and those that didn't)
Networking
Lobbying opportunities
Examples of what other youth groups, charities and voluntary agencies are doing
Consultations
Best practice sharing
Election support
Other (please specify)
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report
56.4%
55.0%
55.5%
52.1%
41.7%
42.7%
40.3%
36.0%
33.2%
16.1%
4.3%
59.0%
50.5%
44.3%
30.5%
33.8%
23.3%
18.6%
13.8%
9.5%
7.6%
70.8%
72.2%
63.2%
55.5%
51.7%
41.6%
38.3%
27.8%
18.7%
23.9%
12.4%
2.9%
15

What would you like to see offered as your evening entertainment?
Silent disco
Comedy night
Talent show
Cinema
Fancy dress party
Sporting activities
Glee club
Political B (our version of a spelling B)
Karaoke
Meditation
Video games
Circus skills
Board games
Arts and crafts
Should there be a Youth Worker programme?
- Yes = 94%
- No = 6%
If yes, should it be…?
A half day programme
A full day programme
One hour session per day
Other (please specify)
What should be included in the Youth Worker programme?
Training
Meeting with senior executives of DfE and BYC
Best practice sharing
Debates
Networking
Consultations
Information from other charities and voluntary organisations
Rest and Relaxation
Other (please specify)
39.1%
33.5%
25.4%
20.8%
12.7%
12.2%
10.7%
10.2%
6.1%
4.6%
4.6%
4.1%
3.6%
2.5%
47.3%
23.1%
22.0%
7.7%
64.8%
48.9%
42.0%
30.1%
29.5%
22.7%
22.7%
19.3%
3.4%
Young people have been involved throughout the planning, design and delivery of the annual sitting. We have drawn on the evaluation and feedback from previous Annual Sittings and supported young people to make informed choices and decisions.
National consultation:
An online survey was sent to UKYP membership through regional coordinators. We had 260 responses from young people and local authority workers to suggest ideas and write comments
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 16

on what the Annual Sitting should look like. Questions can be found at the back of this document.
This survey fed into the Procedures Group meeting in April.
Regional consultation at regional meetings
Regional coordinators at regional meetings brief young people and local authority workers about the annual sitting. Questions raised are passed onto the Annual Sitting event organizer to answer and amend documents, programmes where appropriate.
Questions on UKYP facebook and twitter sites
Regular bulletins, questions and areas for young people to feed into the planning of the annual sitting have been posted. For example: “Looking for ideas on inspiring women to speak at the annual sitting - any ideas?”
Procedures Group (PG):
The PG’s have taken responsibility on various elements of the programme. Major logistics, for example, risk assessments, rooming lists, contacting external agencies has been done by the UK
Youth Parliament Development Officer.
Programme:
The PG’s have designed the annual sitting programme for both Member’s of Youth Parliament
(MYP’s) and Local Authority workers. They have taken advice from MYP’s and local authority workers in their regions as well as utilized the national consultation and previous sitting evaluations.
Workshop choices
The group has designed a programme based on the national consultation. Workshops have been designed for all delegates, including local authority workers.
Evening and afternoon entertainment (lunch queue entertainment)
Based on the national consultation and previous sittings, quotes from organizations were received. PG’s then decided on who to book for the annual sitting.
Opening ceremony
The Yorkshire and Humber PG’s have taken responsibility of designing and running the opening ceremony.
Closing ceremony
A small group of PG’s have taken responsibility of designing and running the closing ceremony.
Social media and communications
Social media via facebook and twitter has been led by PG’s. This is the main method of communication for young people to find out about the Annual Sitting.
Researching organizations for sponsorship and support
Based on the national consultation, as well as personal contacts, PG’s have put together a list of organizations to approach to support the Annual Sitting.
Icebreaker and energiser games
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 17

A subgroup of the PG’s have put together a fun book of UKYP icebreakers and energizers for facilitators to run in their sessions.
Ideas for youth worker programme
Based on the national consultation and speaking with local authority workers, the group has put together a youth worker programme to be run by Regional Coordinators.
At the Sitting
The PG’s will support the following roles at the Annual Sitting. This is based on BYC’s
Safeguarding policy as well as feedback from delegates at previous sittings:

Support with delegate bag organization

Putting up signs to workshop rooms and signposting young people to the sitting from the train station

Welcome regions at registration

Lead the tour of the site

Chair their regional meetings throughout the event
 Meet speakers and VIP’s
 Support the running of workshops for both MYP’s and Local Authority Workers

Interviewed my members of the media

Support the social networking presence at the event

Bin Bag duty (as well as UKYP staff)

Support the help desk
UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 18

UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting 2011 Report 19