This page explains the B&NES Participation Promise to children and young people.
Below are the easy-read versions for children and young people.
B&NES Participation Promise widget
If you work with children and young people, please view our page on the Participation Promise for professionals and service providers.
What the Participation Promise is about
Our promises to you
When we meet with a child or young person, we will keep these five promises:
- We will listen to what you say.
- We will respect you for who you are.
- We will help you understand decisions that we make.
- We will let you know what will happen next.
- We will share our decisions with you.
Your rights
Children and young people have five rights to help you feel more confident to ask questions of the adults working with you. These are:
- The right to be treated fairly
- The right to information you can understand
- The right to make some choices
- The right to have a say
- The right to know how we consider and use your views
When the Promise applies
This Promise applies from birth to :
- age 19, for all children and young people
- age 25, for Looked After Children, Care Leavers and young people with a disability
Who the Promise is for
First and foremost, our Participation Promise is important for children and young people who use our services. This also includes our recognition that the participation of parents and carers is important, to ensure improvements to children and young people's services.
Professionally, the Participation Promise guides our teams who work:
- directly with children and young people
- on the commissioning or management of services for children and young people
- with organisations whose work affects children and young people
Why participation is important
Participation improves services
Participation is important for the children and young people who are receiving services from us. Only you have the insight into your own needs. You have the right to influence your care and the services you receive, and to get the opportunities to exercise that right.
Our staff who make decisions affecting you should have the skills, time and resources to ensure that the ‘Voice of the Child’ is clearly heard, and is represented in the work they do.
The benefits of participation
Participation brings many benefits, and has been shown to improve outcomes in services for children and young people. Select a topic below to read more about the impact this can have on everyone involved.
- Increasing your self-worth, self-esteem and confidence
- Being able to take control of your life and influence the decisions which affect you
- Developing skills such as negotiation, problem solving, raising awareness of your own needs, and the needs of others
- Making positive contributions and long-term changes
- Gaining an insight from, and meeting the needs of, children and young people
- Changing our perceptions about ourselves as adults
- Shared decision making
- Services becoming more responsive to the needs of all children and young people
- Gaining fresh perspectives and new ideas about how services can be delivered
- Being more effective in delivering the right services
- Seeing children and young people as active and engaged citizens
- Giving children and young people a greater voice and influence on what happens within our communities
Participation at different levels
In B&NES, we are committed to the active participation of children, young people and your families, wherever possible, and we will encourage you to participate at whatever level you can. We recognise that there are different levels of engagement that may suit your circumstances at different times. For example, depending on your needs and the service, you and your family may want to:
- just be informed
- be informed and consulted
- be actively involved in both decision making and service delivery
Our vision and values
Policy context
Since 2000, we have been signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 12 states that 'children and young people have a right to be involved in all decisions that affect their lives.'
Our vision is that children and young people will be well prepared for adult life, and we will listen to what they tell us, so they can influence change.
Delivery plan
Our strategic objectives for children and young people are set out in our Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023 to 2030. The Strategy's first priority is to ensure that children and young people are healthy and ready for learning.
Our Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP, 2024 to 2030) shows how we will put the first priority of this strategy into action, by focusing on emotional health and wellbeing.
View our Children and Young People’s Plan
How we deliver the Participation Service in B&NES
We have policy and strategy groups within B&NES that focus on Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) and global majority young people. However, our Participation Service is a commissioned service, meaning that we work with a partner organisation to deliver this service.
Our Participation Service partners
Off the Record run our Participation Service and advocacy service. They work with the groups In Care Councils and Youth Forum, in partnership with the wider Youth Networks across B&NES. They also run participation training sessions for all staff twice a year.
Service delivery standards
All of our commissioned services must meet the Six Standards of Participation and undertake an annual review of these standards as part of their monitoring.