Bromley Borough Council celebrates successful Youth Conference

Bromley's police, teachers and young residents joined local councillors recently met to draw up new plans to tackle a range of issues.

Now in its fifth year, the Youth Conference is geared towards hearing the thoughts of the borough's young people and seeing what can be done to address any problems they may be experiencing.

As such, this year's event saw each of the borough's State Secondary Schools invited to send six year eight pupils, with eight taking the council up on the offer.

Joining the youngsters were Councillor Tim Stevens, cabinet member for public protection and safety, as well as a number of other council officials and leaders of the local police and fire services.

Top of the agenda at the 2013 Youth Conference were the safety and wellbeing of Bromley's young residents, with special workshops on issues such as cyber-bullying, stop and search and mutual respect between residents and the authorities held.

Following the event, Bromley Borough Council reported that progress had been made on a range of issues, including road safety, noise concerns and ensuring the young people have a better understanding of the police's work, with Mr Stevens already looking forward to next year's conference.

"This is a useful event for decision-makers to listen to the views of young people in the borough while also giving the students helpful advice and guidance on how they can keep themselves safe as they grow up and become more independent," he said.

Meanwhile, at the start of this month, Bromley Council assumed responsibility for a range of community health services.

Following the recent abolition of NHS primary care trusts and the transference of responsibility of their services to local governments across the country, Bromley Borough Council has now taken charge of the provision of health checks, as well as services designed to treat obesity and drug and alcohol misuse.

Prior to the April switchover, the local authority stated that it had been working hard to ensure that these new services are effectively integrated into its overall work.

Written by Ben Carter

Published 22nd April, 2013

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