Our Voice Matters

What is 'Our Voice Matters'?

Our Voice Matters Survey is a survey for everyone in Surrey aged 8 to 25. It runs every two years and is a way for children and young people to have their voice heard on what it is like to grow up in Surrey. The latest Our Voice Matters survey ran between May and August 2022 and collected the views of 571 children and young people in Surrey.

A huge thank you to everyone who completed the survey!

Our Voice Matters Survey was co-designed by young people in Surrey who were responsible for everything from choosing the themes, creating the questions, and designing the look and feel.

In these web pages you will find the results of the survey and what children and young people have to say about living here.

A bit more detail on the survey

A message from one of our young survey designers:

"I took part in Our Voice Matters as I am passionate about making sure that everybody has the chance to have a say in the topics that affect them and this was a way in which I could do this. It allowed young people to express their opinions and it allowed us to gain a better picture of what is important to young people.

Young people often have important decisions decided for them and to let this happen we need to be as informed as we can about the views and feelings of the people that it is going to affect. This allows officials to make an informed decision that is going to positively impact the lives of children and young people."

This year young people wanted to focus on the following themes:

• Living in Surrey
• The environment
• Health and wellbeing
• Education and employment
• Digital and social media

"We chose topics that we collectively felt were the most important to young people, such as education and health and wellbeing. While these are not the only topics that are important to young people, we felt that these were currently the most important issues after talking to our friends and peers.

In light of these results, I would like the services to use these results to inform their decisions about issues that are going to affect young people. I would also like changes to be made to the services where the survey has identified an issue."

Where relevant, these pages will link key findings from youth organisations and government data - look for the light bulb symbol!

Question types

In the Our Voice Matters survey, children and young people were asked to rank certain aspects of their lives in Surrey out of 10. For these questions, 1 represented 'not at all' and 10 'extremely' – unless otherwise stated. At the end of the survey there was an optional open comment box. Responses are shown throughout the report by topic.

Who answered the survey?

Age

Percentage of respondents by age group:

• 8 to 12 – 26%
• 13 to 17 – 40%
• 18 to 25 – 35%

Gender

Percentage of respondents by gender:

• Female – 53%
• Male – 40%
• Other – 5%
• Preferred not to say – 1%

Key Cohorts

Three key cohorts were identified in the responses from children and young
people:

• Additional Needs and Disabilities – 35% of respondents
• Looked After Children and Care Leavers – 13% of respondents
• Young Carers – 20% of respondents

You can find more detail on these groups in the cohort overviews section.

Location

The percentage responses by borough and district council, highest to lowest:

• Guildford – 12%
• Mole Valley – 12%
• Elmbridge – 11%
• Epsom and Ewell – 9%
• Reigate and Banstead – 9%
• Woking – 9%
• Surrey Heath – 8%
• Waverley – 8%
• Spelthorne – 5%
• Tandridge – 4%

Below is a map showing the percentage response by borough and district council in Surrey, UK. The darker the purple the higher the number of responses in that area.

Ethnicity

85% of responses came from children and young people who identified as white.

The list below shows the ethnicity by group and the percentage of people who responded.

• White: 85%
• Mixed or multiple: 6%
• Asian or Asian British: 4%
• Black British, Caribbean, or African: 2%
• Other: 2%
• Prefer not to say: 1%

The high proportion of respondents identifying as white was expected as according 2021 Census, there are more people who identify as 'White British' in Surrey (83.5%) than the average in England (79.8%).

Living in Surrey

Key Findings

• Overall, children and young people like living in Surrey.
• Leisure facilities, libraries, and sports clubs are the most popular community activities.
• Around 1 in 7 young people aged 13 to 25 reported to not go to any places or activities in Surrey (14%).
• Children and young people feel like public transport is too expensive.

"I like that everyone is nice and cars let people cross the road and smile lots."

Community

Overall, 36% of children and young people said they like living in Surrey because they feel part of the community.

All age groups reported that what they liked most about living in Surrey was that they have friends here, there are good green spaces to visit and that they feel safe living here.

63% of children and young people feel safe living in Surrey.

Overall, 94% of children and young people have a trusted adult they can turn to in a time of need.

However, for young people between 18 and 25 years, 89% reported that they have a trusted adult in their lives. The lower percentage could suggest that as young people get older, they are less likely to be able to identify a trusted adult.

Cost of Living

Lack of financial support and lack of information available to young people about what financial support is available was a key theme from Surrey Youth Voice participation groups in 2022.

60% of 13 to 17 and 77% of 18 to 25 year olds said they are concerned about the cost-of-living crisis.

However, a quarter of 13 to 17 year olds said that they didn't know enough to say whether they are worried about the cost of living crisis compared to 9% of 18 to 25 year olds.

Office for National Statistics (2020) reported that young people between 16 and 24 in the general population:

• 27% are living comfortably
• 45% are doing alright
• 18% are just about getting by
• 7% are finding it quite difficult
• 3% are finding it very difficult

Young people who have additional needs or a disability, are looked after children, care leavers, or young carers are more concerned about the rising cost of living. You can find more detail on these groups in the cohort overviews
section.

70% of children and young people indicated they did not feel like there is enough financial support available.

"It's too expensive to move out of your parents' house here unless you come from money, therefore it's unrealistic to move and still be close to family and friends."

Activities and Hobbies

Just over half of children and young people reported to use leisure facilities in Surrey. Libraries and sports clubs were the next most popular places.

"I like the library. I reserve lots of books. Some of the librarians are very nice."

"There is no activities suitable for me. My mum is disabled and there is never enough disabled space when we try to go somewhere like a park."

12% of the children and young people that answered the survey do not attend any community activities. The main reason was that they are not interested (42%), followed by the cost (30%). Some young people said their mental health prevents them from attending activities.

Public Transport

45% of young people said that they like living in Surrey because of the good transport links.

"There are no regular buses that run near my house, which makes it difficult to use public transport."

The survey asked 13 to 25 year olds to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 whether public transport in Surrey meets their needs. The total average across these age groups was 6. On average, 8 to 12 year olds scored 6 out of 10 for how safe they feel on public transport.

"Surrey is a lovely place to live, however if I would improve anything it would be later trains from London!"

"Buses should be so much cheaper. It's unacceptable how much they cost even though they have such clear environmental benefits."

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

What young people had to say:

"Very diverse. I lived in Hong Kong up until 2020 and moved here, and there are many people with different nationalities: it makes me feel I'm part of the community."

"It's not multicultural."

"THE RACISM. A lot of people don't notice it because it's passive aggressive middle-class racism, but Surrey is one of the most racist places I have lived."

"I still feel that a lot of racism, homophobia, anti-semitism, and other forms of discrimination can be seen in everyday life in Surrey."

The Environment

Key Findings

86% of children and young people use parks in Surrey and over half visit woodlands and lakes! Young people reported high levels of worry about the environment, their main concerns are:

• Climate change - 75% of respondents
• Impact on animals - 65% of respondents
• Air pollution - 65% of respondents
• Concerns around biodiversity, deforestation, lack of action, hot weather and wildfires also scored highly.

68% of respondents reported to already recycle or are thinking about recycling!

• A higher proportion of children aged 8 to 12 reported to recycle (75%), compared with 18 to 25 year olds (59%).

Just under half already or have thought about buying items with less packaging (49%), using less energy (48%), and using public transport (47%).

What did young people say about the environment?

"I enjoy living in Surrey and thoroughly enjoy the nature."

"The parks are very green, there are a lot of playgrounds to play in and parks to play in but also there is a decent amount of litter in Surrey."

"I would like there to be clubs where we can help litter pick or clean dirty spaces and that stuff."

"I hope we can take good care of the environment."

Health and wellbeing

Key Findings

• Young people are more comfortable visiting a GP than the dentist or A&E.
• Most children and young people are experiencing anxiety, with 13% saying they feel anxious or worried all the time.
• 67% of children and young people know where they could access support for their mental health and wellbeing.
• The impact Covid had on mental health increased with age.
  • 49% of 8 to 12-year-olds said it impacted their mental health compared to 65% of 18–25-year-olds.

"Too long waiting lists for mental health services. All the council care about is ticking boxes not the young people that are suffering."

Healthy eating and exercise

When asked what helps or would help children and young people to take part in exercise, physical activity or sport, the top things children and young people said were:

• Doing the activity with friends
• If the activity made me feel good/happy
• Doing a fun activity
• Friendly and supportive coaches/adults

13 to 17 year olds are generally less happy with the number of healthy food options in their education setting than 8 to 12 year olds.

When we asked 8 to 13 year olds to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 whether their education setting had enough healthy food options the average score was 6. Only 6% of respondents felt that there were more than enough options.

Healthy eating is important to 18 to 25 year olds.

87% scored the importance of healthy eating as 6 out of 10 or above, with an overall average of 8 out of 10.

Accessing services

"Sometimes I feel very sad and there isn't very good help for me."

Overall, around two-thirds of children and young people know where they can access support for their mental health and wellbeing. This increases with age:

• 8 to 12 year olds – 57%
• 13 to 17 year olds – 68%
• 18 to 25 year olds – 73%

Whilst children and young people are more comfortable visiting a GP than the dentist or A&E, 10% of respondents said that they would not feel at all comfortable accessing their GP (a score of 1/10). For accessing the dentist or A&E services, this goes up to 15% and 19% respectively.

The following groups said that they are less confident accessing healthcare services:

• Young people who have additional needs or a disability
• Young carers
• Young people who live in Mole Valley
• Gypsy or Irish Travellers
• Arab, and Asian or Asian British – Indian

"I have been able to see a youth worker from NSDAS* but wish all children who have seen domestic abuse have access to this service."

*North Surrey Domestic Abuse Service

Mental health

52% of young people reported they had high levels of anxiety.

Percentage of children and young people reporting high anxiety by age group:

• 8 to 12-year-olds: 47%
• 13 to 17yrs-year-olds: 53%
• 18 to 25yrs-year-olds: 57%

Office for National Statistics (2020) shows that 37% of young people aged between 16 and 24 in the general population reported very low anxiety and 22% reported high anxiety.

Children and young people who reported saying they had high anxiety were 18 to 25 year olds and those with additional needs and disabilities. Looked after children reported the lowest levels of high anxiety (25%). You can find out more in the cohort overviews section.

Listening to music, seeing friends, and watching TV or films were the most common ways in which young people reported to look after their mental health.

Over half of young people also reported to spend time with family and take part in exercise, sport, or physical activity. Accessing emotional wellbeing and mental health services, mindfulness or meditation, prescribed medicine and self-help videos or books ranked the lowest.

Of the young people with high anxiety, 57% also scored high when asked how much the media affects the way they feel. You can read more in the digital and social media section of this report.

Mental Health Support from education settings

61% of children and young people know what mental health support is available at their school or college. This increases with age (55% of 8 to 13 year olds, 72% of 13 to 18 year olds) which may suggest that education settings for older students provide more information to their students. 80% of university students know where to access mental health support if they are struggling.

"It is truly appalling to not have appropriate mental health services available and education for people in need."

However, knowing what mental health support is available in education settings may not necessarily lead to students feeling more supported, as 13 to17 year olds reported feeling the least supported.

"I think it is utterly ridiculous the lack of support you receive for mental health saying 'you are not bad enough'. Also lack of support when out of schools."

"I think schools in Surrey need to focus more on mental health, especially eating disorders."

During the pandemic, Beat saw a 97% increase in demand for their Helpline services and 28% stating coronavirus as a trigger (Beat, 2020). By the first quarter 2022, more young people were being treated for eating disorders than ever before as the number of under-18s being referred increased by 46% (NHS England, 2023).

Covid-19 and Mental Health

Children and young people reported that Covid mostly impacted their education (61%), mental health (58%) and friendships (52%).

Young Minds' have shared that 80% of young people with mental health needs reported that the Covid-19 pandemic had made their mental health worse!

The results of this survey show that Covid has had a significantly greater impact on mental health compared to physical health, particularly for 18 to 25 year olds and young people with additional needs or a disability. However, a greater proportion of young carers reported that Covid had impacted their physical health than non-carers. You can find out more in the cohort overviews
section.

The National Audit Office reported that during the Covid-19 pandemic, secondary mental health referrals for under-18s increased by 142% in the years 2021 to 2022 when compared to the years 2016 to 2017.

The Covid-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing Surveillance Report suggested that the mental health and wellbeing of some children and young people had been substantially impacted during the pandemic, especially during the time that schools were closed.

Research has shown that there was a reduction in the quality and quantity of student learning during the pandemic, especially for
disadvantaged children and young people as they had less access to resources and quiet spaces when learning from home (Ofqual, 2022).

Education and employment

Key Findings

• 61% of children and young people aged 8 to 25 years old in school or college reported their education setting has a participation group.
• Children aged 8 to 12 reported to receiving most help from their school for schoolwork (average score 6.92/10).
  • This is higher than the average score for children aged 13 to 25 and in school/college (6.38/10)
• Children aged 13 to 25 were generally less positive about the support they receive from their school or college.
• Medium-low average score for support with preparing to live independently (4.60/10).
• Children aged 8 to 12 were more likely to say their school takes bullying seriously compared with 13 to 17 year olds (58% vs 42%).

Education Settings

"Since home learning, I really like school and football."

We asked young people to rate how much they like going to their education setting out of 10. On average young people scored:

• School/College
  • 8 to 12 year olds: 6.71
  • 3 to 17 year olds: 5.80
  • 18 to 25 year olds: 6.84
• University: 7.82

Overall, university students ranked their universities above average for supporting them:

• with university work: 6.73/10
• with their mental health: 6.55/10
• with their exams: 6.30/10
• managing finances: 6.27/10
• finding accommodation: 6.30/10
• preparing for the work world: 6.70/10

Bullying

A common theme in 2022 throughout Surrey Youth Voice participation groups was bullying in schools.

In 2020, HSBC found that 26% of children aged 11 to 15 years old in England said that they had been bullied at school in the past couple of months.

Children and young people are interested in how different schools are handling bullying. Therefore, we asked how seriously they feel their school takes bullying.

48% of children and young people think their school takes bullying seriously.

20% felt like their school does not take bullying seriously, with 27% answering not sure and 5% that it didn't apply to them.

Employment

13% of 18 to 25 year olds surveyed are in employment. Within this group, 16% are doing an apprenticeship.

Overall young people like their jobs or apprenticeships and scored above average for how supported they feel by their employers.

Work

When asked how much they liked their job, young people scored an average of 7.47 out of 10.

Overall, employed young people ranked their jobs above average for supporting them with:

• day-to-day tasks: 7.21/10
• career progression: 6.60/10
• health and wellbeing: 6.58/10
• training: 6.61/10

Apprenticeships

When asked how much they liked their apprenticeship, young people scored an average of 7.42 out of 10.

We asked young people doing apprenticeships to rank out of 10 how well supported they feel throughout their course with:

• day-to-day apprenticeship work: 6.83
• preparing for exams: 6.17
• preparing for future roles: 6.58
• emotional wellbeing and mental health: 6.42

58% of young people know what their next step is following their apprenticeship. However, 33% answered that they weren't sure and 8% said no.

Unemployment

5% of 18 to 25 year olds surveyed were unemployed.

Most young people who are unemployed do not feel well supported when it comes to searching for a job. 70% of unemployed young people who answered the survey don't feel there is enough financial support available e.g. Job Seeker's Allowance, Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit.

As the number of unemployed young people in this survey is low, this may be an area that needs more feedback to get a better picture of the experience of unemployed young people in Surrey.

"Not able to support my social care needs so it has fallen back to my family to support me full time. It's frustrating because I have abilities but need support for employment."

Digital and social media

Key Findings

• Digital TV on demand and YouTube were the most popular channels used by all age groups.
• Over half of 13-25-year-olds use Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, and Snapchat.
• Nearly all children and young people reported using at least some online safety measures.

Staying safe online

Most children and young people use safety measures when using digital and social media, with only 2 and 3% of 8 to 12 year olds and 13 to 18 year olds respectively not using any safety measurements. The most common ways to stay safe access all age groups are:

• Not sharing personal information
• Using secure passwords

However, there were some differences between 8 to 12 year olds and 13 to 25 year olds:

• 77% of 13 to 18 year olds use online privacy settings compared to 58% of 8 to 12 year olds.
• 71% of 8 to 12 year olds do not add strangers as friends compared to 65% or 13 to 18 year olds.
• 58% of 8 to 12 year olds have parental controls on their online access.

Mental health online

When asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how much the media affects the way they feel when they hear positive or negative news stories, on average children and young people scored 5.

Slightly more 18 to 25 year olds scored 10 (8%) then other age groups (6% each). More of 8 to 12 year olds scored 1 (10%) than 13 to 17 year olds (4%) and 18 to 25 year olds (3%). Due to age restrictions on social media channels and parental controls there may be a difference in the types or news stories these age groups access.

In Ofcom's 2022 report on news consumption in the UK they found that:

• Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are teenager's top 3 sources for news.
• 12 to 15 year olds feel the most truthful news sources are their family, radio, and TV.
• Half of Tik Tok's user base for news are 16 to 24 year olds.

Looked after children and care leavers

Key Findings

• 5% of respondents were looked after children and 8% were care leavers.
• 25% of looked after children reported having high anxiety.
• 51% of care leavers report having high anxiety.
• 61% of looked after children and care leavers are worried about cost of living.

Social Workers

We asked looked after children to rank out of 10:

how well they feel supported by their social workers:

• 8 to 12 year olds: 6.44
• 3 to 17 year olds: 6.67

whether their social worker does what they say they will (1 being never and 10 being all the time):

• 8 to 12 year olds: 6.56
• 3 to 17 year olds: 7.06

Care leavers' service

We asked care leavers to rank out of 10 how well supported they feel by the Care Leavers' Service:

• 18 to 25 year olds: 6.92

61% of 18 to 25 year olds score a 7 or above with 36% scoring a 9 or 10 out of 10.

Emotional wellbeing and mental health

The top 5 ways that looked after children and care leavers support their mental health are:

1. Playing video game: 64%
2. Listening to music: 56%
3. Seeing friends: 50%
4. Spending time with family: 46%
5. Arts and crafts: 4%

Covid-19

More looked after children and care leavers said their physical health was affected by Covid-19 than young people not in care or care leavers:

• looked after children and care leavers: 40%
• not in care or care leavers: 33%

However, this was the reverse for the impact of covid on mental health:

• looked after children and care leavers: 63%
• not in care or care leavers: 55%

Additional needs and disabilities

Key Findings

• 35% of respondents had an additional need or disability.
• 61% young people with additional needs and disabilities said that they have high levels of anxiety.
• Children and young people with an additional need or disability are more likely to not know or be unsure of where to access support for their mental health (38%) than those without (30%).
• 60% of young people with additional needs and disabilities are worried about cost of living.

Diagnosis

35% of children and young people who answer the survey identified as having an additional need or disability.

The percentage of respondents who identify as having additional needs and disabilities was higher in all age categories in the Our Voice Matters survey than the 16% of young people (aged 16 to 24) in the general population who reported having a long-term health problem or disability according to the Office of National Statistics in 2020.

The list below shows the percentage of people who responded by additional need or disability type.

• Social, emotional and mental health: 16%
• Autistic Spectrum Condition: 16%
• Learning difficulty: 13%
• Speech, language and communication needs: 9%
• ADHD: 7%
• Multiple learning difficulties: 6%
• Physical disability: 5%
• Deaf or hard of hearing: 4%
• Multi-sensory impairment: 3%
• Visual impairment: 2%
• Other: 2%
• Prefer not to say: 1%

Support for additional needs and disabilities

We asked young people to rank out of 10 how well they think the professionals supporting them with their additional needs and disabilities listen to them:

• 13-17-year-olds: 5.88
• 18-25-year-olds: 6.01

We asked young people to rank out of 10 how well they think the professionals supporting them with their additional needs and disabilities listen to them:

• 8-12-year-olds: 5.87
• 13-17-year-olds: 5.51
• 18-25-year-olds: 7.00

Emotional wellbeing and mental health

The highest levels of anxiety were seen in young people with ADHD, social emotional and mental health, Autistic Spectrum Condition and Multi-sensory impairment.

The top 5 ways that young people with additional needs and disabilities support their mental health are:

1. Listening to music: 62%
2. Watching TV or films: 58%
3. Seeing friends: 55%
4. Spending time with family: 50%
5. Playing video games: 45%

Covid-19

More young people with additional needs and disabilities report that their physical and mental health was affected by Covid-19 than those without:

• Physical health:
  • With additional needs and disabilities: 43%
  • Without additional needs and disabilities: 33%
• Mental Health:
  • With additional needs and disabilities: 67%
  • Without additional needs and disabilities: 33%

What did young people with additional needs and disabilities say?

"Not enough support for Autistic individuals with PDA [Pathological Demand Avoidance] like me and my Dad, people don't listen to us."

"SCC [Surrey County Council] SEND team have let me down time and time again."

"There is a lack of education when it comes to hidden disabilities."

More facilities for disabled people. Better access for disabled people.

Young Carers

Key Findings

• 20% of respondents helped to look after someone in their family due to an illness, frailty, disability, mental health problem or addiction.
• Young carers reported that being a young carer most affects their ability to study/work (3.01), followed by their mental health and friendships/social life (both 2.90).
• Only 20% of young carers said they had a young carers assessment from Surrey County Council.
• 63% of young carers are worried about cost of living.
• 50% of young carers reported having high anxiety.

Identifying Young Carers

As children and young people may not be aware that they are young carers, we asked:

Do you help look after someone in your family? This may be because your family member(s) needs help because of an illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction?

Children and young people that answer yes to this question were identified as a young carer. 20% of these children and young people had a young carers assessment and 52% of these were carried out before 2020. 13% were carried out in 2021 and 30% in 2022. 4% of young carers who have received an assessment were not sure when it was carried out.

96% of young carers reported that their friends are aware they help look after someone in their family.

In comparison, 76% said that other family members know with only 40% saying that their school knew, and 35% that their GP knows that they are young carers.

Life as a Young Carer

We asked young carers to rank out of 5 (1 being not at all and 5 being extremely) how being a carer affects their:

• friendships/social life (total average 2.90)
  • 8 to 12 year olds: 3.00
  • 13 to 17 year olds: 2.63
  • 18 to 25 year olds: 3.05
• ability to study/work (total average 3.01)
  • 8 to 12 year olds: 2.84
  • 13 to 17 year olds: 2.68
  • 18 to 25 year olds: 3.30
• mental health (total average 2.90)
  • 8 to 12 year olds: 3.11
  • 13 to 17 year olds: 2.65
  • 18 to 25 year olds: 3. 02

Emotional wellbeing and mental health

The top 5 ways that young carers support their mental health are:

1. Arts and crafts: 66%
2. Exercise, physical activity, or sport: 62%
3. Seeing friends: 61%
4. Spending time with family: 59%
5. Playing video games: 45%

Covid-19

More young carers had their physical and mental health affected by Covid-19 than young people without caring responsibilities:

• Physical health:
  • Young Carers: 51%
  • Non-Carers: 33%
• Mental Health:
  • Young Carers: 68%
  • Non-Carers: 55%

Summary

Children and young people like living in Surrey. They enjoy the green spaces, attending activities, and accessing education.

Unfortunately, there are high levels of anxiety and young people feel there needs to be more financial and mental health support available to them.

Children and young people are worried about the environment. However, they are keen to be part of the solution, with many already thinking about or actively changing their behaviours to have a positive impact.

Next steps include a recommendation paper and webinar series written and designed by children and young people.