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Eleanor Bley Griffiths and Axel Landin |
Youth Council rocked by resignation from key post
Co-leader quits, warning: ‘We just couldn’t achieve anything’
CAMDEN'S Youth Council has been hit by the resignation of one of its key members amid complaints that council staff have not supported the flagship project for teenagers.
Eleanor Bley Griffiths, 16, resigned from the position of “co-leader” of the scheme after just two months in the job.
She is the second teenager in three months to walk away from the scheme, which was aimed at making youngsters feel they had more of a say in the way Camden is run by creating a mini version of the adult council. The young councillors were even given £100,000 of council money to spend as they saw fit.
In a parting shot, Ms Bley Griffiths said civil servants and adult councillors had let the young politicians down, describing her post as “entirely unmanageable” due to the “lack of support given to us by civil servants”.
She said: “When I have needed help dealing with something that has happened, or have needed someone there to sort out the vast practical organisation that is needed in implementing something, there has been no one to turn to.”
She said unless fundamental attitude changes took place behind the scenes at the Town Hall the future of the youth council – which was launched with great fanfare in February – was in doubt.
“We couldn’t achieve anything without the council’s full support,” warned Ms Bley Griffiths, from Mackeson Road in Gospel Oak.
“I ended up having to take some time out of school to attend some meetings that weren’t youth friendly. What we need is a member of staff who can attend meetings late at night rather than in the day.”
Ms Bley Griffiths, who shared her top role with Youth Councillor Axel Landin, is a student at top school City of London School for Girls, in the Barbican. She said she spends around 30 hours a week on revision and coursework.
“There is simply not enough time for the leaders – both in full-time education – to carry out all the work necessary for the functioning and success of the youth council,” she said.
Last night (Wednesday), Mr Landin moved to calm fears that the Youth Council’s foundations had been undermined and insisted changes would be made.
“I’m working hard to reform it to ensure the Youth Council gets the best possible support that Camden can offer,” he said, before adding the young politicians had already achieved a lot in their first 11 months.
The adult councillor in charge of the project, Janet Grauberg, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, admitted last night “things have been a bit difficult” and accepted that the Youth Council “hasn’t been working as well as we’d like”.
However, she insisted she took the project seriously and promised youth councillors would have as much access to council staff as their adult counterparts enjoyed.
And while she accepted that her younger peers hadn’t had the sort of support that “allowed them to make they changes they want” she denied that the young people had been let down.
Cllr Grauberg said: “There are plenty of people who want to see the Youth Council fail – I want to see it succeed and I’m absolutely committed to making it succeed.” |
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