§ Vernon CoakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent meetings she has held in order to co-ordinate policy on the implementation of the social exclusion unit's report on young people. [23460]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 9 January 2002]: The principles and recommendations of the report from the social exclusion unit's policy action team (12) on young people continue to form the agenda of the children and young people's unit and the great majority of my meetings in my role as Minister responsible for young people are concerned with work taking forward its recommendations.
Two recent initiatives are of particular importance: the publication of the Core Principles for the Involvement of Children and Young People, launched on 2 November, and the consultation on the Government's proposed Strategy for Children and Young People, which began on 21 November. The core principles provide a framework that Government Departments have agreed to work to in order to increase the effective involvement of children and young people in the design and provision of policies and services. The strategy sets out a framework for measuring and monitoring real-life outcomes in children and young people's lives—the consultation will help shape priorities for spending over £40 billion each year on services for children and young people. I have, of course, met Ministers with an interest in children and young people's issues to discuss and agree both documents which are key elements in the implementation of the report's recommendations.