FAQs

Applications will open on 1st May and close on 22nd June, the same day at Jersey’s general election.  Applicants are asked to complete an online application form which will then be put to a selection panel.  Applicants names will be made anonymous before going to the panel.

Please try and put in as much information as possible so that we can ensure that we get to know you and that we have a diverse mix of young people.  If you need any support with your application please speak with a teacher, youth worker or email hello@jyp.je

We appreciate how busy everybody already is and so we do not want Jersey Youth Parliament to take over your life.  There will be monthly whole parliament meetings at St James Centre after school.  There will be opportunities to go out to peers and other young people to gather wider voices.  This may be once a week if you have time, but it may also be less.

There will be 3 residential weekends over the 18-month term in which it will be an opportunity to build relationships with your fellow members as well as undertake necessary training.   Within the first few months we will try and meet weekly to undertake any additional training and to ensure a close bond between the members.

Just before presenting your findings to politicians the workload may increase depending on the role you take within the parliament.  Please don’t be put off thinking you do not have the time, as it is flexible and we want to be able accommodate everyone.  Yes it is a big commitment but please be honest if you cannot attend something or if something doesn’t fit into your life, we may be able to rearrange.

The dates that we have booked in and would expect members to attend as minimum are below.

Members will be on the parliament for 18 months.

The Jersey Youth Parliament will work on 3 campaigns over your 18-month term.  You will work on the campaign that most interests you with other members. As a group you will discuss, research, compile a report and present your findings to members of the States Assembly every 6 months. This gives time to discuss your research and make recommendations to the Ministers who work in your campaign areas. The Jersey Youth Parliament will also work with Scrutiny panels to explore work that is already taking place and how the Jersey Youth Parliament can feed into this process.

All young people across the island will be invited to put forward suggestions of campaigns and issues they would like the youth parliament to work on.  Members will then present specific campaigns that they are passionate about to other members.  A vote will take place and the top three will be the ones selected as the campaigns to work on.

The plan is to have 3 campaigns over the 18-month term, however you may find that one campaign becomes a lot bigger than anticipated and so dates can be adjusted.  It is up to the members how you would like to work it and three is just a suggested guide.  It may be tricky to hold any more than 3 presentations as the chamber needs to be booked up well in advance.

There will also be the opportunity to be involved in scrutiny discussions as well as consultations.  JYP will receive consultation requests through the website and it will be up to the members to decide if they would be happy to be involved or if they would like to direct it to other young people.

We are expecting the parliament to be popular and so unfortunately not everyone will be able to get a seat, however there will be lots of opportunities to get involved.  Once the parliament have decided on the campaigns they will then be reaching out to other young islanders to get a wider perspective and voices.   You will be able to join in one of these either through school, or your youth project.  We will also be promoting them on social media.

On your application you can state if you are happy for us to keep your details and from time to time, we may contact you with other opportunities that may arise either with the Jersey Youth Parliament or at the youth service. This may involve being asked to sit on a working group, take part in interviews or be involved in government consultations. You have the option to withdraw this consent at any time.

We also expect that not all 40 members will stay on for a full 18-months so we may call up other applicants to see if they would like to join later on down the line.

We will try our best to select a diverse group as young people as possible, however if you feel this is not a fair representation and that you should be on it then you do have a right to appeal.  This will involve contacted the principle Youth Officer, Mark Capern, and you can lodge a formal appeal that will then be considered.

Ideally yes, but we appreciate this is a long time when life can be so uncertain.  We know that things change, people leave the island and other commitments take priority so yes we would love you to stay for 18 months but we know this isn’t always possible.  We may have to open up applications again at some point over the term and that is ok or we may call up some applicants that for one reason on another didn’t join first time around.

The residential is going to be key to getting to know your fellow youth connect members as well as undertaking some important training.  We recognize that a whole weekend may not be doable for everyone so we would ask you to attend as much as you can.  If you cannot attend for the whole weekend, we will have to discuss this individually to see if there was a way to make up for what was missed.

Not a problem.  We are looking for young people predominantly 12-18 years old for when they start.

You will hopefully get to make a real impact on the lives of islanders.  You will get to work alongside a diverse group of young people and hopefully make some great friends.  There will be the opportunity to undertake lots of training that may help you in lots of other areas of your lives.  There will be the opportunity to gain a qualification if you are interested in it.  On participation, you will leave a legacy and be an inspiration to many others in years to come.

Of course, not everyone will have to speak up in front on people. We will encourage everyone to give it a go if they feel comfortable and you will be able to take part in training and practice sessions to improve your confidence.  There will be plenty of different jobs for people based on their skills and experience and no one will have to speak if they do not want to.

We hope to have a teacher in each school that will be a link between Jersey Youth Parliament and the school.  There will be members from each different school, potentially a few.  We hope that schools will support you to be able to deliver workshops, assemblies or consultations with your peers to get a wider voice.

No not at all.  We want to ensure we have a diverse group of young people and we understand that a school environment doesn’t suit everybody, but we are sure no teachers dislike anyone.  They will be thrilled that you are wanting to take on extra curricular activities.  Applications will be anonymous when the final selection panel meet.

There will at least two people from each school but there will probably be more.  We want to ensure that there is a wide representation so want to ensure a balance from all schools and not see one school overrepresented or underrepresented.

We welcome applications from all islanders but we can’t promise that two friends will be selected.  Applications will be selected by a panel and all applications will be anonymous so that young people are selected due to their wealth of experience and diverse backgrounds.  If one of you was selected and another not you would still be able to work together and could help each other when delivering workshops to others. You will hopefully develop new friendships on the parliament and mix with a whole range of young people.

Yes of course.  We will accept applications any way that suits your own personality and skills.  This can be via video or audio application.

We want to make sure that there is a fair representation of islanders on the parliament, so we encourage all young people to apply.  We will discuss with all young people about any additional support that is required and will make arrangements for this.  Please state on your form if you require any learning or support needs.

We encourage young islanders from all walks of life to apply and we will do everything we can to ensure that you get the most out of your time on the parliament. If you struggle to understand then we will do our best to support you and can look at getting a translator.  Please state on your form if you require any learning or support needs.

You will be representing your own views and the parliament and other young islanders. Over the 18 month term you will be able to put your own views forward as well as gathering viewpoints of other islanders through your outreach work. There is bound to be some disagreements amongst parliament members but ultimately you want to be working together on shared campaigns. There will be the opportunity to debate amongst yourselves and then come up with a shared vision that you will put across to states members.

You will not be paid a wage to sit on the parliament. You will receive refreshments at meetings and all residential costs will be covered. You will not be left out of pocket or be expected to use your own money to work on campaigns. The only costs you may incur is travel costs to meetings but if this is a barrier to participation, we can make arrangements.

No, all meetings will take place after school, at weekends or in the holidays. We do not expect you to take time out of school to work on campaigns.

Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing voters, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Our parliament is called the States Assembly.
The Jersey Youth Parliament cannot make laws, but you do represent many islanders who cannot yet vote. The Youth Parliament can amplify your voice, and those of other young people’s, to those that hold power and share with them your perspective on issues that affect you.

To ensure young people have a voice in the island. You make up a large part of the island and have extremely valuable things to contribute. What gets decided today affects you for many years to come. The voter turnout in Jersey for young people under 34 is only 32% compared to 73% for over 55’s. You don’t want to have the older members of society making decisions that affect your life. We would love to see voter turnout increase and even see younger people stand in the next election and by joining this you could help to make a real difference and influence others.

No this is different to the youth assembly. The youth assembly will still go ahead, and you can take part in both. Jersey Youth Parliament is a year-round project whereas the youth assembly only meets once a year to debate a specific topic and ask states members questions in the chamber.

We hope to work closely with them and be in contact with the island representatives.

We hope that at some point there will be the opportunity to visit other youth parliaments in the UK and maybe in the future even further afield.

We can’t stop anyone talking to the media about the Jersey Youth Parliament, however we would like it if any media enquiries did come through the support staff initially. The Jersey Youth Parliament members will receive media training and we want to ensure that all potential members and actual members are not put into any positions that they feel uncomfortable with.