Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party Young people are now talking about children’s voices. “Only 22% of children agree that their voice is taken into account… encouraging young people to partake in decision making allows them to take ownership of their future. It enriches the whole community.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley Dalton MP The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party “We need to make it more accessible for children and young people to be heard. We need to ask for children to be heard in their communities. We need to get out and engage with children.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party “Raising the importance of youth voice has become a broken record… young voices bring up issues that might not interest the older generation. But the quality of our services shapes the outcomes. These outcomes shape society and the future.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party “I’m asking the next Government to create platforms of active engagement with children and young people.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party The question to the panel: “How have you incorporated young people’s opinion into the work you have done? If so, what were the outcomes? If not, why not?”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley Dalton MP The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 is answering: the Conservatives set out the first Youth Select Committee, he says. “We need more of that!” Every authority in the country should have a recognised body of young people.

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party Ashley for The Labour Party: “Building on existing commitment, the next step is taking those organisations and bodies seriously, making sure we’re engaging with young people properly. What’s important is not just listening, it’s about creating real platforms of power.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 for Liberal Democrats says she meets children and young people regularly: “At a national level I’ve tried to reflect the views of young people in my work. I’m also keen to start children’s surgeries to formally engage with young people.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party Ria Patel (they/she), Councillor for The Green Party: “We want the Youth Council to actually be listened to, and we need to provide adequate funding to grassroots organisations working with children and young people.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley Dalton MP The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party We’re now moving on to children’s social care. A young person is taking about her own experience in care: “I had a great foster family and home, but it’s hard to feel a sense of normality when your life is turned upside down by decisions that you haven’t made.”

Anna Feuchtwang Dame Rachel de Souza Children's Commissioner for England Ashley The Labour Party Tim Loughton MP 🇺🇦 Conservatives Munira Wilson MP 🇺🇦 Liberal Democrats Ria Patel (they/she) The Green Party “The way children in social care are treated is a reflection of how the most vulnerable children in our society are treated. Children are 20% of the population, but they’re 100% of the future.” Huge applause from the whole room! 👏