Services for young people

Memorandum submitted by Gordon L Lewis
 
 

Improve the delivery of Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance (CEIAG) within schools and colleges by totally restructuring the existing Connexions service at local level ... AND save money at the same time!

* There is a statutory requirement to provide high quality CEIAG within schools in England which is currently delivered by the local Connexions service. However, this Labour creation is costly, inconsistent and is failing an estimated 50% of young people, many of whom then become NEET or drop-out of college and university because they received poor or no CEIAG support. It is not surprising, therefore, that there were almost one million unemployed young people registered under the Labour government (2009).

* Connexions was handed back to local authority control on 1st April 2008, around five years after it was piloted as an independent contracted service. Some authorities took delivery in house, whilst others continued to contract out to commercial companies already operating under the Connexions brand.

* Because Connexions is delivered by different authorities and/or companies across England, each with its own management structure, IT support etc., the level of service provision is inconsistent and duplicates costly management and support posts by following a county by county structure.

* Inconsistencies in delivery arise because some authorities and companies allow practitioners to specialise in either CEIAG or Personal Development, while others expect staff to be holistic in their delivery thereby reducing the amount of targeted knowledge, experience and support that can be offered.

* Local authorities used to be responsible for the delivery of CEIAG until the late 1990s when around 90%+ of Year 11 students were seen by an adviser, as compared to the estimated 50% or so in each school under Connexions. The higher percentage was because each school was usually appointed one designated practitioner prior to the introduction of Connexions.

* The Connexions ethos is to offer appointments "by request", but many vulnerable or unfocussed young people do not ask for any 1:1 support or are not identified and referred by teachers as being in need. In my experience as a Connexions (Careers Guidance) practitioner, this is why only about 50% of Year 11 students are seen because it is incorrectly perceived that the demand is not there and I am consequently expected to work across two schools.

* Since its introduction, Connexions has been seen to provide CEIAG and Personal Development support - often referred to as "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" by practitioners and others within education. Unfortunately, this has detracted from the provision of CEIAG and even former Labour minister, Alan Milburn, implied that careers guidance within Connexions had failed in his 2009 report "Unleashing Aspirations".

* Many schools and colleges now employ non-teaching Pupil/Student Support Managers who work with young people facing personal issues that could affect any ability to achieve in the future. There is less need for this provision to be offered by Connexions as well, and for those who are outside of education there are many voluntary groups offering a similar service that could be accessed.

* Few schools and colleges have a full time/five day a week Connexions practitioner because these staff are often shared by two or more establishments. Many schools would prefer a full time, named person approach as it allows the adviser to become fully integrated into the educational establishment as well as becoming an identifiable figure within the school. Furthermore, there can be no guarantee that a particular school has various assemblies, meetings, special needs reviews etc., on the days attended by Connexions due to the split allocation of staff.

* Schools and colleges should be provided with one named individual and provide operational management to that person. Schools should also be involved in future recruitment processes, as not all practitioners would match the ethos of all schools.

* Staff contracts should remain with Connexions Direct or a similar national CEIAG organisation, so that impartiality in schools and colleges, particularly those attached to 6th Forms or offering Higher Education options, can be maintained.

* Because of local authority boundaries, it is difficult to track young people who move to or live on the border of other counties. Data protection often hinders valuable information being shared, resulting in new client files being created in two or more counties. Although numbers could be seen as minimal, it still leads to unnecessary duplication that could ultimately distort NEET figures in some cases.

* Connexions at local level should be completely abolished and integrated into the existing Connexions Direct or similar service, but possibly modelled more on Jobcentre Plus in relation to 1:1 work within schools, colleges and the community. This would mean that a young person would be known by whichever school they move to or office they visit, irrespective of where this is in the country.

* Staff would be transferred to a national organisation that could also incorporate the careers services operating in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Although there would be some cost in doing this in the short term, the long term financial benefits would be enormous as management and support costs would be significantly decreased overall.

* Connexions currently works with young people up to and including the age of 19 (25 with additional needs). Much time is spent tracking 18 and 19 years old who have chosen to use Jobcentre Plus rather than Connexions. There should be a lowering of the age range to 18, with community Connexions staff working alongside Jobcentres to ensure seamless and less confusing access to post-18 NEET support. At present, two organisations appear to be duplicating unemployed clients within this age group.

* Steps should be taken to monitor private companies who exploit educational establishments by providing expensive resources that cannot be purchased elsewhere. One of my two schools has recently purchased two DVDs from a CEIAG resource company at a combined cost of £80, The cost of DVD production does not equate to what must be a high profit margin.

* I have worked in careers guidance within Hampshire for over 12 years, but am concerned at the excessive wastage that is present in management structures when a national organisation could still provide a similar and no doubt improved level of service.

* Some schools and colleges also see CEIAG as a necessary evil and do not promote the need for careers advice. For the future of our young people, our economy and our country, I firmly believe that many of my ideas, developed from a front line delivery role, would benefit all concerned and allow savings to be made.

* Every young person who becomes NEET at 16 ultimately costs money to the tax payer. Equally, every young person who drops out of college or university because they received poor or no careers advice also becomes an economic liability.

* Working alongside a pro-active Assistant Head in one of my schools, we are already looking at ways in which some of the above can be implemented locally, although this is primarily hindered by the Connexions structure within which I am employed and the need to share myself between two schools. However, if any minister would like to visit the school where a change of direction is already starting to see results, I am sure something could be arranged!

December 2010