Memorandum submitted by The National Youth
Agency
The National Youth Agency (NYA) works to enable
all young people to fulfil their potential as individuals and
citizens within a socially just society. The Agency achieves this
by informing, advising and helping those working with young people;
by influencing and shaping youth policy and promoting young people's
participation in society.
Young people rely heavily on public transport
and local bus services in particular, to access education as well
as leisure time opportunities. Thirty percent of all young people
travel by bus[7]
and in surveys public transport comes top of the list of young
people's concerns. Recent Government reports back this up. For
example, Youth Matters: something to do, somewhere to go, someone
to talk to found that:
"The lack of reliable affordable transport
can be a particular barrier to young people living in rural areas."
[8]
The Social Exclusion Unit's report, Transitions:
Young Adults with Complex Needs concurs with this view. This
report stated that:
"Thirty per cent of the rural population
are under 25 and young people living in these areas can struggle
to access the services they need. They have to travel more than
40% further than their urban counterparts each week because services
and facilities are likely to be further away."
"Young people without access to a car face
even more problems. The affordability and the availability of
public transport limit young people's ability to get to where
they need to go." [9]
During the consultation period for the Youth
Matters Green Paper, The NYA carried out interviews on behalf
of the DfES with a number of groups of young people. A theme which
came through repeatedly was the need for affordable and appropriate
transport to enable young people to get to youth clubs, leisure
venues and support centres.
Young people's concerns about bus services can
be grouped broadly into four areas:
Accessibility includes the routes buses take
and the times of day they travel along these routes (access to
evening facilities is often limited by reduced or shortened services)
as well as the times of discounted or free travel.
Cost is a recurring theme and has been the trigger
for young people's own campaigns on issues such as paying full
fares when they reach 16 (even though they are still in full-time
education). Bus service providers in County Durham, Derbyshire
and Plymouth have all made concessions following pressure from
young people themselves.
The attitude of bus drivers comes up regularly
as an issue—young people do not always feel they are treated
with due courtesy—schemes such as mystery travellers who
can report back to local authorities or bus companies offer some
potential for improving services. Of course attention is also
needed on occasion to young people's misbehaviour.
Safety is also a concern for young people—a
survey by Leicestershire County Council showed that bullying by
other young people was an issue, particularly where young people
had to travel long distances to and from school, as well as on
school buses.
All of these matters suggest that the distinctive
needs of young people should be a particular concern for transport
operators. The NYA has developed a set of standards, "Hear
By Right", by which public bodies can assess their performance
with and for young people such as drawing in of the roles and
perceptions of young people as consumers. This could be a useful
device for consideration by the Committee for all providers since
it would give the basis for a continuing analysis of their needs
and for decisions about possible service improvements.
The NYA is aware of a range of schemes which
have addressed the issues of costs and access and we would be
happy to contribute further information and related evidence if
the committee felt this was of interest.
24 May 2006
7 Social Trends, No 36 2006 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5748 Back
8
Department for Education and Skills, "Youth Matters Next
Steps: something to do, somewhere to go, someone to talk to"
(2006) www.everychildmatters.gov.uk Back
9
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, "Transitions: Young
Adults with Complex Needs" (2005) www.socialexclusion.gov.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=789 Back
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