Youth Combined Authority
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About the Youth Combined Authority
At the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) meeting in September 2017, the Greater Manchester Youth Combined Authority (YCA) was approved by council leaders – the first in the country.
The Youth Combined Authority held their first meeting in February 2018.
The aim of the Youth Combined Authority is to give young people in Greater Manchester the opportunity to have their voices heard and influence GMCA policy and decision making.
Its purpose is to:
- Advise the Mayor and GMCA on key issues and concerns of young people, and provide solutions;
- Provide a critical voice and scrutinise the work of the Mayor and GMCA;
- Undertake specific pieces of work (previous examples include developing Our Pass, future projects include a Climate Change Summit)
The Youth Combined Authority undertakes specific pieces of work, and develops real policies that improve the lives of young people.
In its first two years, members have been influencing policies, strategies and decisions on a number of different issues, and have given young people of Greater Manchester a powerful voice. Key achievements include:
- Developing Our Pass, the city-region’s free bus travel pass plus additional benefits
- Presenting at Youth Select Committees on Curriculum for Life and Knife Crime
- Speaking at the Northern Power Futures Conference and two Conferences of the North
- Opening the Green Summit, and taking part in a question and answer session on stage with the Mayor
- Co-hosting the Meet Your Future launch event in April 2019
- Featuring on BBC North West’s Sunday Politics programme
Find out what’s already happened by reading the meeting summaries and newsletters.
Membership of the Youth Combined Authority
The YCA is made up of 42 young people aged between 11 and 18 (or up to 25 for those with additional needs). The 42 members of the Youth Combined Authority represent 21 youth groups across Greater Manchester. Each member serves for up to two years.
Half the YCA is made of the ten youth councils and they reflect the geographical diversity of the city-region.
The other 11 youth groups are made up of a diverse range of identities and backgrounds and were chosen by the Mayor (at the time of December) and the portfolio lead for Young People and Social Cohesion (at the time of December 2019), Cllr David Jones, Bury Council.
You can find out more about our current youth organisations. Please see below for websites, Twitter handles, and Instagram handles (links open in new window):
The YCA is supported by Youth Focus North West (opens in new window), and its media partner is Bolton-based youth-led Youth Leads (opens in new window).
Working Groups
The YCA also consists of a number of Working Groups, which have been established to bring particular projects to life.
The Working Groups are open to anyone aged 11-18 (or up to 25 for those with additional needs) from Greater Manchester. The Working Groups tend to meet monthly in Manchester city centre.
Previous Working Groups have focused on Curriculum for Life and Health, and an Environment Working Group who were responsible in organising a Youth Green Summit in Summer 2020.
We are always looking for interested young people to join the Working Groups. More information about can be found in these frequently asked questions. If you are interested please email youth.gmca@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk.
Keeping in touch with the Youth Combined Authority
You can keep up to date with the Youth Combined Authority and tell us your views by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.