Commissioners at the Isle of Anglesey County Council have endorsed important proposals aimed at giving the young people of Anglesey the best start in life.
The Anglesey Children and Young People’s Plan explains how the Council will continue to work with its partners to improve the lives of children and young people over the next three years.
The Plan’s aims reflect the priorities identified by over 2,500 young people and families who attended the Children and Young People’s Festival in the summer of last year, as well as direct input from other consultation events. They are:
- To give children a flying start in life
- To give every child and young person access to a comprehensive range of education, training and learning opportunities
- To ensure each child and young person enjoys the best possible physical, mental, social and emotional health and be free from abuse, victimization and exploitation
- To give children and young people access to play, leisure, cultural and sporting activities
The Plan also explains some of the achievements since the last Children and Young People’s Plan was drawn up in 2008, including a reduction in teenage pregnancy rates, a decrease in the percentage of young people leaving school without a qualification, further schools counselling services and initiatives to provide education on alcohol an substance misuse. The numbers attending youth clubs has also doubled in the last three years, and successful joint partnerships have been developed during school holidays.
Richard Parry Jones, Chair of the Isle of Anglesey Children and Young People’ Partnership said, “I’d like to congratulate all the children and young people, and those that work to support them, on their achievements over the last three years. This hard work has provided us with a firm foundation for the future, and with your continued support we can keep improving the lives of children and young people on Anglesey.”
Commissioner with responsibility for education Gareth Jones added, “Every child and young person deserves the best possible start in life, and the Children and Young People’s Plan is the first step in delivering this to children, young people and families on Anglesey.”
Commissioners also took further steps to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults by resolving to adopt a formal Criminal Records Bureau Policy across the Council. The Policy will apply to employees, independent contractors and volunteers on behalf of the Council, and will mean that each directorate will risk assess every post to determine whether or at what level CRB checks will be undertaken. They also recommended that the County Council adopts the Policy as it relates to elected and co-opted Members.
