§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what subjects and on which dates her Department has consulted organisations representing young people; and if she will list such organisations. [52504]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe precise information requested is not held centrally in the manner requested and could only be secured at disproportionate cost. The Department is in regular contact with organisations which represent young people, including for example the Millennium Volunteers National Forum and the British Youth Council. We have involved young people and the organisations which represent them in many of the Department's initiatives, including consulting pupils on the Education White Paper and engaging young people in the 659W development of the Connexions Service. We are currently consulting young people on our 14–19 proposals. On 20 May the Department invited over 130 young people from around the country to our offices to give their opinions on our education policies.
The Department is committed to the new core principles for the involvement of children and young people published by the Minister for Young People in November 2001. The Department will shortly be publishing an action plan setting out for the first time how it will implement these principles to extend the participation of children and young people in the design, provision and evaluation of policies and services that affect them. The action plan will describe our recent achievements in involving children and young people as well as our plans for the future.