Last year I organised a Politics Summer School for young people living in Newham.

It provided an opportunity for a dozen 16 to 17 year olds to gain first-hand experience of politics at both a local and national level. Participants spent a week at Westminster and Newham Council, and two weeks volunteering with a local project in the borough. They were a lively and impressive group. Feedback from the students was very positive, and I am planning more politics schools in the future.

In addition, they asked me to organise more events. One idea was a Young People’s Question Time, giving students from Newham the chance to question local decision makers about issues that matter to them.

The first Newham Youth Question Time will be in East Ham Town Hall from 6.30pm to 8pm on Thursday, January 29. It will be chaired by Cllr Seyi Akiwowo. I will be on the panel with my colleague, Lyn Brown, the MP for West Ham. We will be joined by Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham; Tricia King, Pro-vice Master at Birkbeck, University of London and Detective Superintendent Andrew Mortimer of Newham Police. We will be grilled by local young people about issues that matter to them.

I am hugely looking forward to this evening and hope that, if successful, it will become a regular event in the borough’s calendar. Of course, to be successful we need young people to come. I do hope that as many young people as possible will attend.

If you are 20 or under and would like to, please e-mail stephen@stephentimms.org.uk to let me know.

I am also asking students from across Newham to tweet in questions beforehand, using the hashtag #NewhamYQT.

There is also a Facebook page where questions can be posted for putting to the panel. More from Sir Robin