Short Abstract

Involving young people in decision-making can benefit the community and improve local services. This case study assesses the influence of youth engagement on local government decision-making by examining local leaders’ perspectives on how it translates to actionable insights.

Description

A recent review undertaken by the UK government identified that young people wanted to be involved in decision-making processes. Involving young people in decision-making can benefit the young people themselves and the wider community through shaping and improving local services. However, little is known about the policy impact of youth engagement. Understanding the mechanisms through which youth engagement translates to actionable insights for decision-makers, could help local governments to strengthen youth engagement to shape local policy decisions. This case study involving a document analysis, together with interviews and a focus group with leaders in a local authority in England, describes how youth engagement can inform decision-making and what factors reinforce or weaken these processes. The study found that even where a range of youth engagement activities are supported, the absence of strategic corporate commitment can result in an approach that is fragmented, without adequate resource to ensure insights reach the relevant decision-making forums. Services and policies are more likely to change where the pathway from insights to service provision is short, for example among Children’s services where service providers directly seek insights from the young people they support. However, outcomes were not routinely fed back to young people, and their input was not consistently acknowledged in relevant strategies. This may limit ongoing engagement. Creating a broader organisational culture that values youth engagement requires leaders willing to challenge the status quo to demand consideration of young people’s perspectives. This could involve adopting a systematic approach to embed youth engagement into key decision-making structures within the local authority.