Parliamentary Select Committee - Debating

The Town Council held an event jointly with a primary school, St Edward’s Catholic Junior School, in Aylesbury. The children had been learning about the UK Parliament and the rules relating to the holding of debates, asking and answering questions, voting and other familiar conventions. The school has its own Pupil Parliament and the opportunity to engage in the promotion of democratic debate with our young people was greatly appreciated by Town Councilors who attended, facilitated and participated in the debate. The Pupil Parliament also learned about the role of select committees which are established at Westminster to monitor the work of specific government departments and hold inquiries into matters of concern based on amassing evidence which forms the basis for a report including recommendations. The children were undertaking an evidence gathering exercise to inform their response to the Impact of social media and screen use on young people’s mental health being investigated by the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee. Much of the evidence gathering work had been undertaken in advance of the ELDW event in mid-October. The programme for the event on 18 October involved, firstly, the presentation of badges to members of the Pupil Parliament by the Town Mayor, Cllr Mark Willis. There then followed a presentation by councilors on the differences between decision-making and similar processes at Parliamentary and the Town Council level and the role of representatives accordingly. Two structured debates on the central topic by children in Years 5 and 6 and then Years 3 and 4 followed. Finally, the event concluded with networking and informal discussions between pupils and councilors on what democracy means to them. In all, approximately 100 St Edward’s children attended the event, along with their teachers, the Head Teacher, Mrs. Harris, Cllrs Willis, Lloyd and Smith of Aylesbury Town Council, Cllr Bethany Bingle, a member of the Aylesbury Youth Town Council and Mrs. Benedicta Lasoye, Clerk to the Youth Town Council.