SCRUTINY OF THE INTEGRATED PLAN PROPOSALS 2013/14 - 2014/15:

INFORMATION REQUESTS

That Members be advised of the use of Channel Mogo; specifically whether it is being used to consult/obtain feedback on changes or whether it is only being used as an information portal; and how the Hertfordshire Young People’s Manifesto is being employed to ensure engagement with young people.

Channel Mogo / Mogozout / Youth Connexions

The sites show year on year growth as follows:

YearNumber of Visits % Increase

2010160,193

2011226,790 41.6

2012260,546 14.5

Social media

Channelmogo has a facebook presence as an additional channel to reach young people in Hertfordshire. This facebook page has 5,000 followers (compares to 972 for hertsdirect). Channelmogo and mogozout both have a twitter presence broadcasting daily news and important messages to young people. The number of followers currently stands at 951 for Channelmogo

and 1,078 Mogozout.

Young people’s voice

Using Channelmogo as an engagement tool to make contact with young people and elicit their views has proven to be of considerable benefit in recent years. It has allowed a larger number of young people to take part than was possible before in the county wide elections and more recently allowed a wider cross section of the youth population to submit their views on the Youth Manifesto.

E-Democracy

The annual UK Youth Parliament elections are hosted on channelmogo. The hustings and voting process are described on channelmogo during the autumn, and young people can find out how to apply to take part. All candidates’ manifestos are then posted on the site during the lead up to the elections, in both written and video form. Access to voting is through channelmogo, and then the results are posted there in February.

For their term of office, the elected representatives post blogs, activities and consultations on channelmogo. Linking with social networking sites such as twitter Channelmogo has created new opportunities for young people to network with local decision makers. Linking people together who wouldn’t normally meet, for reasons of time, space and who they are.

Surveys

The site is used by partner agencies in Hertfordshire to survey young people, and young people can use it to research among their peers too. Results of these consultations are posted on the site so that young people can see what feedback they have given. Collecting the opinions of young people for the Youth Manifesto was made far more accessible via this mechanism which would not be possible using pen and paper.