How does participation take place in South Gloucestershire?			Children and young people have experiences, ideas and opinions that should by right be engaged with, listened to and acted upon.
Examples and outcomes of participation	Participation is the process of sharing power to ensure those experiences, ideas and opinions fully impact on decisions that affect children and young people’s lives.
Voice of the child and young person			Children and young people should have opportunities to have their voice heard but also opportunities to have real influence in decision making and being empowered to make decisions themselves.
Staff, skills and resources	All agencies which work with children and young people will be encouraged to develop best practice in their own agencies and to promote participation opportunities.
	This is particularly important to enable those children and young people who need additional support, who are not engaged with council services but are in contact with the voluntary and community sector, to access opportunities to have their voice heard and to participate in decision making.