Children, Young People and Governance in the West Midlands A Report on the Findings of Research carried out by the Growing Up in the West Midlands Strategic Forum, June 2006

I. Children, Young People and Governance in the West Midlands “Children are not only the future, but they are the citizens of today”[1] ContextThe number of children and young people in the world today who are under the age of 18 is estimated to be 2.2 billion. Although very few are given an opportunity to participate in decisions which affect them, there is growing recognition that the active involvement of young people in decision-making within their communities can have significant and positive effects. Now, as never before, the climate is right for organisations to consider how they might benefit from a greater involvement of children and young people in shaping the direction of their work in the future. In nineteenth century Britain the emergence of organisations and societies for the welfare of children became common during the industrial revolution. In line with the norms of the day they were run by adults for children and were generally paternalistic and disciplinarian. Children were excluded from decision-making processes then as they still are now in most parts of the world. There were exceptions. Some organisations and movements were started by and for young people, the YMCA, founded in London in 1844, being perhaps one of the first and the most well-known. However, as the English YMCA Movement grew, so did the complexity and nature of its operations. One of the consequences of this is that today those with the decision-making power at senior levels in the organisation no longer reflect the age group of the membership or its service-users. In recent years the role that children and young people have to play as citizens in their own right has been increasingly acknowledged. Although it was as early as 1919 that Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children, first promoted the idea that children have rights, it was not until 1989, seventy years later, that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)[2] was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly. Enshrined in the Convention and clearly articulated in Article 12 is the principle of participation[3] and the right of children to have a say in decisions which affect them. The Convention, signed by all except two countries in the world[4], has played an important role in promoting the concept of children’s active participation in civil society. It has also been a contributory factor in the greater involvement of children and young people in organisational decision-making which is gradually gaining wider currency particularly in the voluntary and not for profit sector, Children and young people can bring a different perspective to organisational decision-making and the need to explain to a new generation how and why decisions are made can foster healthy debate across the organisation as a whole. At the same time young people can benefit from gaining a greater understanding about how organisations work and about their own social responsibilities and roles as actors in the wider community. Youth who are involved early on may become part of the next generation of leadership which is particularly important in organisations that have experienced an ageing of Board Members and of staff in executive decision-making positions. The UK Charity Commission figures clearly illustrate the lack of representation of young people on the boards of the 190,000 charities in England and Wales, where only 5000 (0.5%) out of one million people acting as trustees are under the age of 24.

* NB not all within this age-range could legally be a trustee

It is generally recognised that a charity or organisation with a diverse board of trustees is more likely to engage effectively with the community it serves, respond effectively and equitably to the needs of its users and increase accountability and public confidence in its work. This requires not only that there should be a range of representative individuals on the Board but also that democratic processes should exist to ensure that the views of those most affected by the Board’s decisions are heard and taken into account. The fact that at least 30% of charities in England and Wales find it difficult to attract young people to serve as trustees is deserving of attention and the ongoing research by the Growing up in the West Midlands Strategic Forum aims to help identify what organisations need to do in order to support and encourage their greater involvement in governance in the future. Purpose of the ResearchThe Growing Up in the West Midlands Strategic Forum[5], or G:up for short, exists to develop the West Midlands as a region that respects and acts upon the needs, interests and aspirations of children and young people and the voluntary and community organisations that work with them. This piece of work, funded by Change Up Funding in the West Midlands [6] is the first stage of a longer term project which aims to assist organisations in identifying approaches and introducing ways in which children and young people might more meaningfully engage in their governance. The research aimed to find out what governance means to children and young people in the West Midlands and to gain a better understanding of how they themselves would like to be involved. Methodology380 voluntary and community organisations working with and for children and young people in the West Midlands were contacted by letter explaining the purpose of the research and asking if they would be willing to participate. The definition of governance used by the project was: ‘Committees/bodies that through a formal constitution and / or terms of reference, make a strategic decision arrived at through a democratic process’. 30 organisations (8% of those approached) responded and were sent a questionnaire asking them what their organisation understood by the term ‘governance’ and how they involved children and young people in the process. In addition to this a questionnaire and a ‘Blob Tree’^[7] [8]was sent for children and young people in each organisation to complete. Fifteen organisations completed the questionnaire (50% of the number that had originally responded). 235 children and young people from the responding organisations and through various other gatherings were given a questionnaire and a ‘Blob Tree’ to complete. In order to phrase the question in more understandable terms for younger children, thirty-one 5-12 year old children were asked to indicate who they thought made decisions in their organisations by choosing one of four pictures representing parents, managers, children or staff. Results/ Findings 1. The Organisations’ Responses Profile of Organisations:

Definitions of GovernanceDefinitions of governance ranged from short definitions to longer descriptions of the governance and management processes. The majority made reference to the role of governance in decision-making and overall responsibility and accountability for the organisation. Several referred to the role of the Board or Trustees. Two described governance as being the management of the organisation and four referred to the role of governance in setting strategic direction. One referred to governance as meaning participation in the decision-making of the organisation. In response to questions relating to children and young peoples’ involvement in governance six organisations referred to their participation at Board meetings and/or as members of youth councils or youth parliament. The rest identified a range of ways in which children and young people were involved in decision-making processes at various level. All included children and young people at the local level in helping determine the direction of activities in which they were involved and a significant number had consultation processes designed to feed the views of young people into the higher level decision-making bodies. Young people in two of the organisations were involved in recruitment processes and another used ‘Young People Champions’ to represent issues on behalf of the wider group. A number of approaches were described to demonstrate how organisations encourage and support the involvement of children and young people to become involved. One organisation carried out in-dept training and induction for new trustees, matching the skill set of young trustees against the desired skill set for the Board. Another sourced external training to help member organisations develop skills in involving young people in decision-making. One organisation conducted training in public-speaking and presentation skills and another offered the opportunity to young people becoming involved in governance to ‘shadow’ directors in order to understand the role better. All the organisations that responded were making efforts to engage children and young people at different levels of decision-making and project development whilst at the same time recognising the different interests and abilities of the individuals concerned. Comment and AnalysisResponse rates to the questionnaire were low (15 out of the original 380). It is only possible to speculate as to why, but it seems reasonable to assume that most organisations probably do not see the involvement of children and young people in governance as one of their highest priorities even though, as members of the G:up Forum, they have demonstrated some interest in the issue. Progressing beyond the discussion stage to actually making changes which truly facilitate involvement of children and young people in governance is something that few organisations have so far attempted and which each has to approach in its own way. Many of the organisations contacted may simply not be ready to contemplate this or to take it on as yet. The range of answers largely reflects the different roles functions and natures of the responding organisations. A number of those contacted represented local branches of national or regional organisations. Some were involved in overall (national or regional) governance whereas others focused more specifically on local operational and service delivery issues. There was no consistent definition of governance. This reflected the probability that this is not a term generally used in communications within many organisations. It also indicated the difficulty individuals had in succinctly describing what it means. It reasonably follows that if the organisation or its representatives find it challenging themselves to express what governance means then they will have even more difficulty in trying to explain this to any children and young people who might wish to be involved. All respondents demonstrated considerable commitment to the participation of children and young people within projects and several had developed comprehensive structures for their participation in the decision-making of the organisation as a whole. Essentially the role and purpose of the organisation, its membership and the interests and abilities of the children and young people involved will largely determine the level and type of involvement they will have within the organisation. More critically, however, the organisation itself needs to determine to what degree it really wants to involve children and young people in its strategic decision-making and to develop participatory processes that facilitate this within its own unique structures. Recommendations

• If an organisation makes a strategic decision to include children and young people in its governance processes this should be clearly articulated in its corporate strategy as an objective with specific and measurable outcomes.
• The organisation needs to have its own clear definition of the term ‘governance’ and agreed processes by which children and young people can be involved if they so choose
• The commitment of the organisation to involve children and young people in its governance processes needs to be clearly and widely communicated; actively supported by senior management and thoroughly understood by staff and volunteers who will be required to encourage and support this approach
• Structures need to be in place within the organisation which make sure that if children and young people are asked for and give their views, these are heard, responded to and where appropriate acted upon
• Staff and volunteers need support and training so that they can facilitate relevant discussions and processes

2. Responses of Children and Young People Profile of Respondents235 children and young people from 18 organisations responded to the questionnaire of whom 49% were girls and 51% were boys. Six respondents described themselves as having a disability. Age Profile of respondents:

9-11 yrs = 6%

12 yrs = 13%

13 yrs = 10% 14 yrs = 14%

15 yrs = 15%

16 yrs = 9%

17 yrs = 10%

18 yrs = 5%

19-26 yrs = 15% Gender and Ethnicity of Respondents

The sample of children and young people broadly reflects the overall ethnic make-up of the West Midlands^[9]. 2.1 DefinitionsThree questions were asked of the children and young people in order to get a clearer picture about their knowledge of how voluntary organisations are run and their understanding of the terms ‘governance’ and ‘trustee’. a) In response to the question ‘how are voluntary organisations managed?’ key words can be identified as follows: How are Voluntary Organisations Managed?

The 5-12 year old respondents who identified pictures to indicate who they thought made decisions in their organisation did so as follows:

b) To the question ‘What does Governance mean?’ 153 responded out of a possible 235. A range of responses can be reasonably categorised as follows:

b) To the question what is a Charity Trustee? 156 out of a possible 231 answered the question (67.5%). 42 (27%) of those who answered said that they didn’t know. The vast majority of the rest of the respondents made reference variously to a trustee as someone with authority and decision-making power and with responsibility for running or managing an organisation. Several emphasised their responsibility for the funding and the finances of the organisation. Three identified a trustee as being ‘voluntary’ or non-executive. One respondent specifically identified a trustee as ‘an older person (not a youth)’ and another as ‘not a young person’. Comment and AnalysisResponses from the children and young people generally demonstrated very little understanding of how voluntary organisations are run and a limited understanding of what governance means or what a trustee is. Although a large percentage did not respond to the questions or said that they didn’t know the answer, most of those who did demonstrated a broad if somewhat vague, understanding of the meaning of governance and the roles and responsibilities of trustees. Given the fact that management and governance of organisations is not a topic of general interest or discussion and that terms may be new to some respondents the level of knowledge and understanding was not surprising. A questionnaire alone may not necessarily be the best way in which to elicit responses which demonstrate a true understanding and interpretation of definitions. Recommendation

• Information about the organisation, its purpose, values and principles and the way it works should be made available for all children. This should be shared in a range of ways including ‘child-friendly’ literature, discussion, games etc. so that they understand the nature of the organisation of which they are a part and are able to make informed decisions with regard to whether and how they would like to become involved.

2.2 Involvement a). Would you like to be involved? Why?Of the 156 respondents, 81 (52%) said that they would like to be involved whereas 40 (26%) said that they would not. 9 (6%) didn’t know and 12 (9%) said that they were already involved. Of the remaining 14 respondents most expressed an interest in getting involved but were either too busy with school work or were uncertain about doing so because they were not sure what it would involve or if they would be able to do what was required of them. Several stated that they would only want to be involved if they felt that they would be listened to and would have their opinions respected.

52% = Want to be invovled

25% = Don't want to be invovled

8% = Already invovled

6% = Don't know

9% = Other Most of those who did not want to be involved did not give a reason as to why they would not. Those that did said that it was because they didn’t like speaking in front of people; that they were shy; that they didn’t understand what was required of them or that they didn’t feel that they were listened to. A significant amount of interest was expressed in becoming more involved in organisational decision-making and indeed some indicated that they already were. The respondents very clearly felt that they would like to contribute positively within the organisation and the community and that they believed that, given the opportunity, they had a great deal to offer. b) What would an organisation need to do to make you interested in being part of its decision-making body? Of the 138 who answered this question, 23 said that they didn’t know. The rest answered in some detail. The categories below indicate the issues most often referred to in the answers: