Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne has offered his support to an online debate for young people and written to each of the secondary schools in the area to encourage students to take part.

The debate takes place on the HeadsUp Forum, organised by the Hansard Society, from today until 16 March to allow young people to discuss topical questions of crime, prison and the criminal justice system.

Liam said:

“Too often we talk about listening to young people and too little we do it. This is why the HeadsUp Forum is a great initiative – giving young people the opportunity to have their say and politicians the chance to hear a variety of views.

“Since I was elected in 2004, I have staged a number of conferences for young people in my constituency. In Hodge Hill, the young simply hadn’t been asked what they thought before. Our surveys found some interesting results – not least the fact that one of the major concerns of young people was anti-social behaviour and gang culture; just the same as older members of the community.”

Topics discussed in the HeadsUp online forum include:
• Does prison work? What are the alternatives?
• What do you think are the causes of crime? What can be done to tackle these?
• Will ID cards help in the fight against crime and terrorism?
• Does the criminal justice system protect victims enough?

Liam added:

“I am really keen for young people in Hodge Hill to take part and I am certain that our students will have lots to contribute. I will be taking a look at the forum over the course of this week and I look forward to seeing what the forum contributes to this important debate.”

The site has proven particularly useful in delivering the Citizenship curriculum and submissions from young people have been quoted in House of Commons debates.

At the close a summary report will be produced containing the key findings and comments made by young people. The report will be circulated to charitable organisations, NGOs, youth groups, registered schools, MPs and Peers, as well as regional and national media in order to ensure that the points of view, concerns and ideas posted by the young people become part of the larger public debate and form part of evidence-based policy making and delivery.

HeadsUp can be found at www.headsup.org.uk or you can go directly to the Forum by clicking here.