On Friday, Lambeth’s Youth Councillors met with the borough’s adult Councillors to find out more about what they do, and what they think about the issues that affect young people in Lambeth.
Samuel, Andrew and Ify took on the role of interviewers, with Councillors Ashley Lumsden (Liberal Democrat), Steve Reed (Labour) and John Whelan (Conservative) answering the questions. See what they had to say...
Samuel Manley: Why did you get involved in politics?
Steve Reed: I wanted to help people, and change things that I thought were wrong. Whatever you think about politics – it can be hard, and it can be slow – but it also works.
I have always been interested in politics, and when I moved to Brixton and started volunteering at the time of the 1997 election, people suggested I got involved as a Councillor.
Andrew Short: What does a Councillor do in an average week?
Ashley Lumsden: A lot of people think being a Councillor is all about Committee meetings, but that’s not really what it’s like these days. A lot of my work involves talking to local people, talking to officers in the Council, and sorting out local problems. Last week a water main burst in my ward, and residents wanted to know what was going on and what was being done about it – so I chased up the Council department responsible for sorting it out, and made sure it got fixed.
There’s a lot of discussion and a lot of consultation. It’s a lot of work, and it doesn’t always get seen, but it’s good to know you’re making a difference.
Andrew Short: Do you have much time for a social life?
Ashley Lumsden: Council work can take up a lot of your time, and often your social life and political life can become the same thing. I don’t think I have many ‘non-political’ friends left in my address book these days!
Andrew Short: What age to you have to be to become a Councillor?
Steve Reed: 18. It used to be 21, but the age was lowered a few years ago. In fact, I think both myself and Ashley would probably support young people being able to vote and become Councillors at 16. If you’re old enough to join the army, and old enough to pay taxes, you really should be old enough to have the vote.
Ify Ossai: What can the Council do to help reduce teenage pregnancy in Lambeth?
Steve Reed: There is a lot that the Council can do, but not on its own. Change will only happen if we work together with the PCT, Schools, Youth Services and other services working with young people.
If young people are educated about the opportunities that are available if the don’t have children young – different careers, owning their own home, lots of different social opportunities – then that goes a long way to helping the situation.
The other aspect is the issue of contraceptives, and young people being in control of their own bodies. That’s something which doesn’t just have an impact on teenage pregnancy, but sexually transmitted diseases too.
Sexually transmitted diseases are spreading particularly fast amongst young people, and that’s something that needs to be stopped.
Samuel Manley: What can be done to combat the use of dogs as weapons in Lambeth?
John Whelan: The Council is acting on this. A strategy is being drawn up between the Council and the Police so that they can act together to combat people who are out and about in parks, using their dogs in inappropriate ways. I think it’s a particular issue in Brockwell Park and Clapham Common, and we’ve actually now appointed a Dogs Warden for this purpose.
The difficulty is that the Police are reluctant to challenge dog owners because often they think they are being unfairly targeted, so we are drawing up a protocol for the Police to follow when they interact with dog owners who they think might be dangerous.
Steve Reed: Three things we can do are: Chip dogs so they can all be recognised and traced; set up a 24 hour stray dog service; and take action against persistent irresponsible owners, possibly by evicting them from their homes if they are Council tenants.
John Whelan: There is a saying that ‘there are no dangerous dogs, only irresponsible owners’.
If Ossai: What do you think about the idea of a dog tax?
Ashley Lumsden: We used to have a dog tax many years ago, but what you have to think about is how many dogs there are in Lambeth, how many licences we would need, and how many of the dogs would actually be dangerous.
Ify Ossai: What can be done to make sure that young people are kept, and feel, safe in Lambeth?
Ashley Lumsden: I think people who get involved in risky behaviour often think that they’re doing it for sensible reasons at the time. So we need education very young to ask “why are you making the decisions you are making?” Activities and giving young people things to do is a big part of it, but we also need education, because there’s no point in having activities if young people don’t feel safe doing them. There’s no easy answers, but we definitely need to start early.
Steve Reed: I think we have to tackle gangs, knives, gun crime. We need to reduce that, especially on estates where a lot of people see it going on around them. We need to increase people choices in life, through education, activities, and encouraging young peoples’ interests. We also need to make sure young people have some responsible adult available to them, whether that’s a parent, a teacher, a youth worker, or an older peer.
John Whelan: I think young people don’t always actually want more facilities… more computers in their youth clubs. Often they just want their youth clubs to be open longer, 5 days a week instead of 2 days. Or even open up schools out of hours.