Janet Finch-Saunders AM

Chair – Petitions Committee

National Assembly for Wales

Cardiff Bay

CF99 1NA

Dear Ms. Saunders,

We are writing in response to Mr Gething’s letter to the Petitions Committee dated 22 November 2019. 

Firstly, we’d like to thank Mr Gething for his response, and we would like to thank the Petitions Committee for their continued work on this petition.

In regard to the 2010 measure and the 2010 statutory guidance mentioned by Mr Gething we feel that they have been ineffective in ensuring children and young people’s voices are included in the commissioning and delivery of services. This is the reason we have submitted our petition. We strongly believe that because the guidance is not mandatory there is a difference between the experiences of young people in different local authorities, especially marginalised groups.

All children and young people have a right to have their voices heard and to have access to information on things that might affect them. Right now there is an inequality amongst young people’s experiences.

We appreciate Mr Gething’s correspondence however we feel that once again he has failed to meet the points we cover in our petition. We believe that the work he is describing does not meet the standards of change we expect to see happen as a result of our petition. We expect to see a statutory duty for young people to be consulted when commissioning new services for young people, rather than the current guidelines that Mr Gething refers to in his response.

Once again if we can provide any further assistance please do not hesitate to ask.

Kind regards,

The #Changeit Campaign Group