Ministers have held a series of meetings with children and young people from 10 August 2005. These are set out in the table and include meetings with traditionally hard-to-reach groups and which provides information on the date of each meeting and the comments or suggestion made by the children and young people who were present.
Minister Date Sponsoring/organising body Subject matter Suggestions received/comments made by young people Lord Rooker 17 August 2005 St Columb's Park House, Reconciliation Centre, Londonderry. Opportunity to visit the centre and engage with young people involved in reconciliation work. Need to tackle underage drinking and negative reporting of young people in the media. Angela Smith 25 October 2005 Meeting with the Commissioner for Children and Young People (two young people in attendance). Consultation on schools admissions arrangements. Comments made on proposed new schools admissions arrangements including: pupil profiles; family focused criteria; geographical criteria; schools admissions criteria Lord Rooker 22 November 2005 Meeting with the Commissioner for Children and Young People (two young people in attendance). Range of issues raised by Commissioner. Concerns about lack of planning for the future of children and young people with disabilities, especially those with mental health needs; participation of children and young people in decision-making; the need for the Minister for Children and Young People to be ‘vetted’ in accordance with procedures; youth service remaining within the education sector Lord Rooker 9 March 2006 Commissioner for Children and Young People–Youth Panel representatives. Opportunity to engage with children and young people on a range of issues. Minister asked to comment on how seriously Government was taking ‘vetting’; the role of the Minister for Children in relation to anti-bullying policies; bullying; consulting with children and young people in the care system and acting on their views; consulting with children and young people as part of the RPA; the need for guidance on Schools Councils; the need for greater provision for cycling in Northern Ireland. Group extended am invitation to the Minister to attend their residential weekend. Angela Smith 13 March 2006 Commissioner for Children and Young People–Youth Panel representatives. Recorded interview by youth panel member played at the Schools Councils conference. Importance of school councils; benefits of school councils; need for children and young people to be involved in decisions about school life. Lord Rooker 16 March 2006 Young People representing the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities. Opportunity to engage with children and young people from an ethnic minority background–range of issues. Need for the next stage of the Racial Equality Strategy to look at children’s and young people's issues; effectiveness of school bullying policies, particularly in relation to racist bullying; need for training of teachers to deal effectively with bullying and children affected by bullying; additional services for fee-paying foreign students; issues relating to the wearing of ‘cultural clothing’; need to empower young people to have real input in the future. Lord Rooker 24 March 2006 Commissioner for Children and Young People–Youth Panel residential at Share Centre. Follow up to earlier meeting. Minister responding to the invitation to attend residential extended at meeting on 9 March 2006. Lord Rooker 9 May 2006 Northern Ireland Youth Forum Opportunity to engage with children and young people–range of issues. Need for formal structures for engagement with children and young people, similar to those in operation in other parts of the UK, for example, Funky Dragon in Wales . Proposals for a Northern Ireland Network for Youth welcomed. Maria Eagle 6 June 2006 VOYPIC–care experienced young people. Opportunity to engage with children and young people on a range of issues relevant to children and young people in and leaving care. Overview of services provided by VOYPIC presented, including the CASPAR project and advocacy and mentoring projects.