Young people grill Gwent’s decision makers

Young people from across Gwent have put their questions to decision makers at the Police and Crime Commissioner’s fourth Youth Question Time event.

The virtual event was held in partnership with the Gwent Regional Youth Forum, with more than 60 young people joining from Gwent’s five counties.

Themes throughout the evening included the safety of women and girls, mental health services for young people, and hate crime in communities.

The event was hosted by Brendan Roberts from the Torfaen Youth Forum and Eva Franklin from Caerphilly Youth Forum.

The full panel included the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert;  Chief Constable of Gwent Police, Pam Kelly; Dr Rachel Evans, clinical psychologist for Child and Family Community Psychology; Kavitha Pasunuru, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and Rebecca Stanton, regional head of transformation, from the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board; Kelly Harris, business development and participation lead for the charity Brook.

Jeff Cuthbert said: “This was another fantastic event and, as always, I was greatly impressed with the depth and maturity of the questions asked.  

“The decisions that we take as public services in Gwent have a direct impact on children and young people, and it is right that they have the opportunity to hold us to account. We are committed to putting them at the forefront of our decision making and this means giving them the opportunity to tell us what we may be doing wrong, as well as what we are doing right.

“I would like say thank you to the Gwent Regional Youth Forum for their hard work, everyone who worked behind the scenes, and everyone who took part on the evening and helped to make the event such a success.”

Young people joined the virtual event from schools and youth groups across Gwent.

Chief Constable Pam Kelly said: “I never fail to be impressed by the energy and passion of the young people who help make Youth Question Time such a success each year. I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work.

“It is crucial that children and young people are given this opportunity to hold us accountable for the decisions we take. We are committed to putting children at the centre of the decisions we take in policing, and the comments and feedback we receive from young people are an important part of us improving our services for the future.”