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Young Citizens gives evidence to House of Lords Citizenship Inquiry

Our written evidence to the House of Lords’ Select Committee Inquiry into Citizenship and Civic Engagement has now been published by Parliament.

The Select Committee has been appointed to consider the issues of citizenship and civic engagement in the twenty-first century, and is due to report by 31 March 2018.  Our evidence included 18 policy recommendations including:

  • Government, alongside Parliament, to take a lead in developing a national consensus on action to breathe new life and confidence into democratic society, through encouraging active citizenship.
  • Government should consider setting down citizenship rights and responsibilities in the form of a Citizenship Compact.
  • Government to fully commit to supporting citizenship education for all students, from primary through to university level.

Our CEO, Tom Franklin, gave oral evidence to the Committee last Wednesday, alongside others involved in citizenship education. He said,

“It has never been more important that young people learn the the knowledge and skills – and develop the confidence – to be active citizens.  Yet citizenship education is being allowed to wither on the vine in schools.  We’re calling on the Select Committee to call out the Government on its failure to support this vital part of young people’s education.”

A transcript of the evidence will be available shortly, in the meantime an audio recording is available from BBC Parliament.