Got a question for John

John Readman is the director of children and young people’s services at Hull City Council - so he's the man in charge of a whole range of services which affect the lives of 57,000 children and young people that live in Hull.

If you have a question for John please fill in the form by following the link below, and send it back. Visit this page to see the questions that other people are asking and see what we have to say...

New questions and answers are added regularly.

Young People's Question Time

A meeting was held on 22 March 2011 when members of the Hull Children Trust Board were asked questions about the proposed cuts to their services.  Find out more about what was discussed.

John B asked -  Which part of a Council employee's contract forbids them to answer a question put to them by the Hull Daily Mail, for instance? Does he plan to employ only people who follow orders without question?

John replied - Officers of the council are not prevented from having contact with the media.  However, officers are required to follow the council's media protocol in order to ensure accuracy and consistency in the presentation of facts and the explanation of council policy.  The protocol makes it clear who is responsible for dealing with the media and sets out the respective roles of councillors, officers and press officers.

A let down group of youngsters asked

We have two questions for John. First,  why did you not turn up to listen to us last monday night at the Guildhall? and second, why are you cutting or closing our youth centres? we believe the young people of Hull you now represent deserve a better service.

John replied - Hi, and thank you for your emails.  To try and provide you with some answers to your important questions I have arranged for me, and other members of the Children Trust Board, to meet with a group of young people representatives. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 22nd March, Reception Room, Guildhall, 6.00 – 8.00pm, so I hope we can discuss these very important matters and discuss our concerns.

As you may have heard on the news, we will have a lot less money next year and beyond to spend on providing services to children, young people and families. We are still listening to the views of a wide range of people, including young people, about how we can make the savings which we have to make whilst continuing to provide as many services as possible. We are still consulting on our proposals and no final decisions have been made. Although we know that we will have less money next year available to spend on youth services we are still trying hard to see if we can make savings without the need to close any existing youth centres.

John