Waltham Forest Council has backed a motion pledging to support every young person in the borough to fulfil their potential.
The council agreed to the amended motion, brought forward by Councillor Chanté Johnson and seconded by Councillor Miriam Mirwitch, which commits to providing opportunities, support, and investment for young people.
Key resolutions include the launch of a Youth Opportunity Charter and a borough-wide Skills and Jobs Partnership, with the aim of creating at least 1,000 new opportunities by 2030. The council also pledged to strengthen its careers service and youth support networks, ensuring young people have access to guidance, employability skills, and connections with local employers.
Furthermore, the motion calls for youth workers employed or commissioned by the council to be paid at least the London Living Wage, and for a local youth work career pathway to be developed. The council will also write to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Mayor of London to advocate for long-term funding certainty for youth programmes and sustained funding for youth provision.
The amended motion also calls for the council to report annually to Overview and Scrutiny on progress, with data on young people not in education, employment or training broken down by ward, SEND, care experience, ethnicity and other characteristics, with young people involved in reviewing it.
Councillors also agreed to write to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport calling on the Government to give councils and local partners long-term funding certainty for youth and employment programmes, put youth services on a statutory, properly funded footing, and open the Youth Guarantee to all 16 to 24 year olds from day one.
Additionally, the council will write to the Mayor of London calling for sustained, multi-year funding for the London Youth Games and the Mayor's Youth Lates programme.