Sustainability & Climate Change Youth Focal Points (YFPs) programme

The purpose of this notice is to seek insight from the market regarding a potential requirement relating to the provision of training and supports services for a Sustainability Youth Focal Point (YFP) scheme.

The Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy was launched in April 2022 and was developed in conjunction with a wide range of stakeholders, including young people. The active voice of young people in creating, delivering and refreshing the DfE Strategy is vital to ensuring the department’s actions and choices around climate education and sector sustainability are relevant to, and meet, the needs of children and young people. Fully engaging a diverse range of young people in our work is a ministerial priority and is supported across government.

DfE’s sustainability engagement with young people is currently delivered through two departmentally appointed Youth Focal Points. Following two successful years of the Sustainability Youth Focal Point (YFP) scheme, DfE is exploring its options regarding future cohorts of the scheme.

We are seeking engagement from organisations able to provide the following services:

1) Design, develop and implement a national recruitment campaign to recruit and onboard three Youth Focal Points (aged between 18 and 24) ensuring safeguarding plans and appropriate DBS checks are in place to ensure young people’s safety at all in-person and online events.

2) Actively support the Youth Focal Points in providing meaningful and representative youth input and scrutiny into the upcoming refresh of the DfE Strategy and its subsequent delivery

3) Provide coaching and guidance to the Youth Focal Points in: working with ministers, senior officials and government teams; attending domestic and international events (including COP); making effective use of, and expanding, their networks to represent a wide range of young voices; evaluating their impact and suggesting positive changes for future delivery of the YFP role.

4) Develop and facilitate a programme of engagements for the Youth Focal Points, including safeguarding and logistics. These engagements will include ministerial meetings and accompanying ministers on school visits and sector events, and proactive engagement with senior civil servants.

5) Have responsibility for submitting expense claims and other paperwork on behalf of the Youth Focal Points, ensuring such claims meet the terms and conditions of the contract and represent value for money.

6) Have the experience, networks and contacts necessary to support young people in being ambassadors for the Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy, sharing information with their networks and communities, and securing diverse and representative feedback from peers across England.