Children and Society Policy Review—A review of government consultation processes when engaging with children and young people about the statutory guidance for Relationships and Sex Education in schools in England

Abstract

This paper examines the participation of children and young people within government consultation processes. It considers the recent Department for Education consultation on its statutory guidance for schools for Relationships and Sex Education in England. The paper is based on a Freedom of Information request for the consultation responses categorised as from 'young people'. We identify two issues in our interrogation of the data. First, there is evidence that a substantial proportion of responses were not submitted by young people.Second, the consultation approach did not include all the features necessary for meaningful consultation. We consider the implications for the youth consultation on policy matters that affect them.