Liverpool Youth Parliament 

Antonia Hamer, Caitlin Price and Megan Dawson

On Thursday 24th January 2013, we attended a Liverpool’s youth parliament meeting with other schools to discuss topical subjects concerning the city and young people.

The main item on the agenda was ‘How can we make Liverpool into an attractive place for its children and young people in light of the economic situation with Liverpool having a reduced budget for the foreseeable future?’

In this meeting, we had a question and answer session with the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, who raised many of the issues below and shared his thoughts.

• Firstly, the issue of recycling was brought up, as we learnt that at 26%, the city of Liverpool has the lowest rate of recycling in any city in England. We discussed how this can be improved, and we were informed that a financial penalty may be introduced for any household that does not recycle.
• The issue of chewing gum was also brought up, as it makes the city dirty. More is to be done to create awareness.
• In this session, we learnt that the budget for the council has gone right down, so cut backs have had to be made. £7 million is spent on street cleaning, £9 million on public parks, £24 million on road maintenance and £21 million on leisure centres. Therefore, cuts are needed to stop overspending.