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- Any young person who is a resident of the UK, and aged between 11 and 18 years old (inclusive) has the right to stand for election as an MYP and the right to vote for their MYP. - Each Local Education Authority (LEA) in England represents a Youth Parliament Constituency. The number of MYPs allocated to each constituency varies depending upon the number of young people who live in that area. - To find out how many MYPs there should be in your area, please have a look at the list at the bottom of the page. - In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the UKYP works with its partner organisations – the Scottish Youth Parliament, Funky Dragon – Wales, and the Northern Ireland Youth Forum to ensure that young people from these three nations are represented on the UKYP. If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland – and you want to become an MYP, you can make contact with your respective organisation via the Useful Links page. - In England, 90% of all the LEAs are currently participating with the UKYP. The UKYP is an independent national charity, and whilst it works closely with the Government it doesn’t hold the same powers, so it cannot force all local authorities to work with it. - The UKYP relies on each LEA to hold an annual election to elect its MYPs. To find out when your LEA holds its UKYP elections you should contact the Education Department of your local council, eg – Hampshire County Council, Birmingham City Council, Merton Borough Council, etc, and ask to speak to the Principal Youth Officer, or the Youth Participation Worker – either of these posts should be able to provide you with the information you require. - If your LEA does not hold elections for the UKYP and does not participate with the organisation’s annual rolling programme, but you still want to become an MYP, you should ask your Principal Youth Officer why the LEA is not participating, contact your local MP and ask them for their support, and consider running a campaign in your local newspaper highlighting the fact that young people in your local area do not have a voice at a national level through the UKYP, whilst 90% of young people in the country do. - The format for UKYP elections should be as follows: - Once you are elected you will be expected to find out the concerns and needs of other young people in your constituency, and represent these views at local adult council meetings, etc. Your MP will be keen to hear from you, and many MYPs develop a productive working relationship with their MP during their term of office, often having regular meetings at the House of Commons and in the constituency. - MYPs should be supported at a local level by a local youth participation, or youth worker. The UKYP supports MYPs at a regional level through a Regional Co-ordinator, and regional meetings which bring together MYPs from the UK’s nine English Regions once every six weeks or so. Once a year the UKYP holds an annual sitting, which brings together all of the MYPs from across the whole of the UK, for a three night, four day residential to create a Youth Manifesto which is presented to the Government for a response. - In addition to working locally and regionally, the UKYP also undertakes to facilitate meetings between MYPs, Government Ministers and Government Departments on the issues that are raised in the Manifesto. - Increasingly, the UKYP is developing an international element to its work, and in 2004 secured a place for an MYP to represent the UK at the Oxfam International Youth Parliament, in Sydney, Australia; and hopes to undertake a regular exchange programme with the emerging democratic Youth Parliament in Bahrain. If you require any more information please send an email to: mail@ukyouthparliament.org.uk The Number Of MYPs Allocated For Election To Each Local Education Authority (LEA) EASTERN EAST MIDLANDS LONDON NORTH EAST NORTH WEST SOUTH EAST SOUTH WEST WEST MIDLANDS YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE | |
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