Youth council to be formed for Windsor and Maidenhead

A youth council is set to launch in Windsor and Maidenhead so that young people can have more of a say on the future of the borough.

At a cabinet meeting yesterday (Thursday), councillors voted to establish a youth council, with many members speaking positively about the plans to involve young people more in decision-making processes.

Introducing the proposal, Councillor Stuart Carroll (Con, Boyn Hill), cabinet member for education, said: “For young people, this is an opportunity to learn new skills, confidence building, working in teams, a lot of those social skills which are so important when young people enter the workforce.

“There’s nothing but positive impacts from this proposal, the positive impact to get young people more involved in the local community and local democracy has to be a good thing.”

Councillor Ross McWilliams (Con, Cox Green), cabinet member for youth engagement, was also supportive of the plans.

He said: “Once upon a time in another life I was the chair of the previous youth council, so it has been an enjoyable experience and a rewarding experience working with the next generation of young people who are looking to get engaged in the policies that shape their area.

“There’s a lot of passion on issues to show that next generation of leadership for our young people.”

Once formed, the council would be involved in national youth issues as well as council business.

Representatives from the council would initially be taken from existing youth groups in the area, including The Girls Policy Forum, Kickback, Youth Ambassadors, the Esteem Project and SEN Life Skills Group.

The plans also received support from across the chamber, but Cllr Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) warned all members that they ought to set a better example with their own conduct following a number of controversial comments at meetings of late.

He said: “We have really got to set an example with these kids, we are supposed to be role models in this council.

“All these little digs at each other in meetings, little jibes, it’s not really fair, and kids do pick up on this sort of stuff.

“Let’s go with the spirit of what we’re saying, actions speak louder than words, and let’s work together across the chamber because we can learn a lot of stuff from these kids.

“I’m going to set a real good example for these guys to follow, and I hope everyone in this chamber does.”