Teens grill politicians about youth violence

The youth council is made up of elected young people from across Wolverhampton

Gambling, youth violence and support for drug users have been the key topics for a group of young people as they grilled local politicians.

The teenagers in Wolverhampton joined the city council's leader and deputy mayor in a replica of a full council meeting.

Youth violence was highlighted as the youngsters debated a campaign developed by young people, called My Tomorrow, to tackle the issue.

The harm caused by gambling and what drug and alcohol support services were available for children were also raised by the group, the city's youth council.

The organisation is the voice of young people across the local authority's 20 wards and has 59 members.

One of them, Princess Williams, said she felt her opinion was "valued" during the meeting.

Fellow councillor Hephzibah Kalapala said taking part in the event gave them all an insight into the world of politics.

The young people were joined by the council's deputy mayor Craig Collingswood

Stephen Simkins, the Labour leader of the council, described the event as "refreshing".

"In my mind there is no distinction between our elected councillors and our youth councillors," he added.

"We have all been democratically elected and my intention is that we have more of these meetings each year."