Services for young people

Memorandum submitted by UNITE, Devon Branch

Summary

a) It is the view of the Devon Branch that the dismantling of local authority youth services is a mistake that will cost the country far more money in intervention services in the long term compared to the relatively small amount currently spent on youth services.

b) The paper argues that the cost of the National Citizen Service is not value for money and that an additional £30 -70 Million investment in youth services and professional training (through scrapping the NSC) would bring far greater benefits to young people.

c) Universal Services for young people require a mixed economy of delivery, it can be evidenced that strong strategic leadership by good local authorities employing professionally qualified youth workers, who meet the JNC National occupational services create the environment for excellent youth work in the communities they live and work in.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 The Unite Devon Branch of Community, Youth and not for Profit Sector, welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the Education Select Committee Inquiry into Services for Young People report. This branch represents the vast majority of professionally qualified, full time Youth Workers employed by Devon County Council. We have an excellent record of working in collaboration with the local authority; not only for the benefit of our members but in the wider context of Devon County Council staff and for the benefit of the wider community.

1.2 The expertise, specialist interests and everyday practice of our local members enables us to provide evidence and informed professional opinions on a range of youth work fields including: universal and targeted services, volunteering, the proposed National Citizen Service , The role of voluntary, community, statutory and private sector service provision, training and workforce development needs for the sector. We also have evidence and views on public sector spending cuts and the funding and commissioning of services including the maximising of resources and how the value and effectiveness of services should be accessed.

1.3 Our members work actively to support and promote a mixed economy of youth work across Devon in a plethora of environments including city and rural detached work in parks, on the streets and from mobile provision, outreach and support work in secondary schools and at events and festivals. We Provide regular support for, or running youth clubs and projects from none LA and not for profit venues including snooker clubs, football clubs, village halls, community centres and voluntary youth centres.

1.4 We also offer specialised activities and projects including democracy, senior member training, young advisors, green ambassadors and volunteer schemes. We also operate the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme, enter numerous Ten Tors teams and participate in localised activity including Exmoor Challenge and local accreditation schemes from food hygiene, cooking, and music awards and certificates.

1.5 Our members work tirelessly to support the aiming high and every child matters agendas, for and with young people, including youth participation in local and national democracy, the shaping of services and providing informal educative positive activities. Members also ensure staff development through excellent delivery of our in-house courses including: Induction, Introduction to Youth Work, NVQ 2 and 3 courses.

2.0 Relationships between universal and targeted services for young people

2.1 Universal and targeted services are inextricably linked. Youth Work is built on young people’s freedom of choice to enter into a relationship with youth workers. Young people access our services for a variety of reasons and on many different levels of engagement. Some young people will become involved in high service level use and participation in a very short space of time, whilst others may take many weeks or months to develop trusting relationships, gradually increasing their levels of participation.

2.2 Youth Workers often find themselves purposely drawn to those young people who may be seen as requiring targeted interventions. Universal services provide "targeted" young people the opportunity to learn in an informal environment not only from youth workers but through their peers and their positive role modelling, free of labels which often compound young people’s distrust of services of the individual being "done to" rather than choosing their own positive development.

2.3 We know through our multi agency work and links with schools that we work with many young people who are considered vulnerable and at risk, for a number of different reasons. It is also are firm belief that we work with many who would be considered on the cusp of targeted work and never actually make it into defined categories. Furthermore we work with a significant number of young people who we consider fall under the radar of targeted but are in need of crucial youth work interventions and relationships.

2.4 Members devise in-house and collaborative multi agency projects to meet the needs pertinent to the young people at that time and are created over short –medium and the long term. We are sure our work contributes to police, health and education performance targets and thereby saving to many departments and ministerial budget lines.

3.0 Government Priorities: Volunteering

3.1 Devon Youth Service can evidence that it has more volunteers than paid employees. Members not only induct adult staff through our Introduction to Youth Work Training (IYWT) and young people through our senior member training programmes. This is a service we provide not only for our own volunteers but also for the entire youth service voluntary and not for profit sector in the Devon local Authority Area. IYWT is seen by many organisations as a prerequisite to employment and volunteering.

3.2 Government Priorities: Safe Guarding

It should also be noted that we offer free Criminal Record Bureau Checks for the voluntary sector. Our Staff are highly trained in relation to safe guarding and conduct CRB2 interviews as a matter of routine. The local authority invests a great deal in safeguarding at all levels. Members can evidence the importance of their local knowledge that has kept child protection Local authority Designated Officers well informed and had many valued inputs into strategy meetings. It can be evidenced that some voluntary sector organisations have not always interpreted safe guarding to the same exacting standards as the statutory authority.

3.3 Government Priorities: National Citizen Service

It is our understanding that the National Citizen Service will cost around £370 Million pounds a year to run and is aimed at giving 16 year olds a life changing residential experience during the summer holidays. Our understanding is that companies such as Challenge, Serco and Capita who have little or no youth work grounding are interested in being commissioned to run this service at a cost per head of £1,300.

3.4 According to the National Youth Agencies last audit youth services nationally cost around £300 million (70 million pounds less per annum than the National Citizen Service) and operate all year round and have consistently good results. The average cost per head for all 13-19 year olds is £100 per annum, many youth workers will argue and can evidence life changing experiences and residential occur on a regular basis through the existing model. A higher investment in youth work rather than an investment in the NCS would see a far better return on government investment.

3.5 Youth Work has never been funded to the recommended levels quoted in Resourcing Excellent Youth Services or by OFSTED and we would call upon the select committee to recognise this fact and support an increase in funding, at a time when young people will need professionally run youth services. We would ask you to read the transcript or see the video of Early Day Motion 1013, The Right Honourable MP Pat Glass gives an excellent account of the value of youth work, the funding it attracts and a national perspective on volunteering backed up by Audit Commission figures.

4.0 Young People access to services and shaping provision.

4.1 Devon Youth Service recognises the importance of young people’s involvement in shaping services. Our members do not except tokenistic youth participation at any level. A concern for our members relates to some organisations stating they have consulted with young people meaningfully, when in reality some organisations understanding of consultation is minimal, tokenistic and skewed to meet organisational or commissioning requirements.

4.2 An example of good practice (of which there are many) is a new youth centre under construction in South Molton (in North Devon) which is due to be completed on the 11th February 2011. The new LA building comes following full support from the community several community events, support from County, District, Parish Councils, local voluntary youth work organisations and community groups. Planning was only granted when it was made absolutely clear, and assurances given that the building would be run by the Local Authority Youth Service. The project had unanimous cross party support including the lead conservative county councillor for the area.

4.3 Young people helped raise the funds towards the build and it’s fitting out, they met with architects to help design the building and have recently met with contractors to discuss fittings and fixtures, equipment and colour schemes and naming of the centre. The Area Youth Worker is currently recruiting young people to the senior member training programme for young people who may wish to take on more responsibility for shaping and running local provision.

4.4 What Young People and people want from youth services

In the past month the UK Youth Parliament, the young peoples’ elected representatives in Devon, have surveyed their peers asking young people why they use the Youth Service and what they want from it. The service gathered responses from 1,234 young people. They did this between Monday 4th October and Monday 18th October 2010. 54% of the young people that responded were male and 46% were female. The responses were from all over Devon. Young people could respond on line or via a paper questionnaire.

4.5 Of those surveyed 78% used the Youth Service, of which 65% used the provision at least once a week. The primary reasons for attendance were for fun and to meet friends but closely behind those came: to do something positive with my free time and to learn new things.

4.6 Across the county young people are involved in democracy as local elections for UK Youth Parliament approach, with support from the authority and recently attended Parliament. Our local UKYP members have supported the youth service and recognise its value; many young people have listened to and spoken up in defence of the youth service during the Devon County Council public consultation events entitled "Tough Choices" (feedback document attached) backed by many community leaders and community organisations. The events have stirred some young people to stand as local UKYP’s, determined to help save this valuable service.

4.7 The Youth Service supports a large amount of voluntary youth organisations via Area Youth Work Networks. Professional workers regularly meet voluntary groups in forums and in there locations offering best practice around health and safety, charity processes and funding opportunities. Our hands on approach ensures professional advice, guidance and practical support in the field (sometimes literally) running youth work sessions. Support is backed up by the Services "Checking it Out Booklet, CD and the Devon Youth Service Website. devonyouthservice.org.uk.

4.8 Young People from the voluntary organisations form committees across the county and give LA grants to a variety of local youth organisations including scouts, girl guides, girls brigade, ATC and Army Cadets, to less formal organisations such as village / community youth clubs. Many of the young people have been trained in–house and attended national grant giving training for Youth Bank UK, Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF) and the Youth Capital Fund (YCF).

4.9 The dismantling of YOF and YCF at a national level has already begun to affect our members as dismissal notices for the 31st March 2011 have been given out in the past few weeks with more notices due any day. Members are already talking about not being able to continue in their vocation and preparing to apply for housing and other benefits, in a county deeply reliant on public sector posts. They have told us of their search for meaningful employment has been demoralising and see themselves becoming deskilled.

5.0 Relative roles of the voluntary, community, statutory and private sectors in providing services for young people.

5.1 As you can imagine the breadth and depth of age, ability and class that this youth service attracts is wide. Young people are attracted to the youth work offer by the youth workers, other young people using the service and the wide variety of projects and resources we have on offer. It would also be fair to say that a significant minority of young people who use the Local Authority Service also use other 3rd sector organisations on a regular basis, including: local surf clubs, sports clubs, uniformed organisations, voluntary youth groups and housing association /community group facilities.

5.2 It is not unusual in Devon for charitable organisations not to maintain their building stock to the same high standards as Devon Youth Service. It is also not unusual for this service to have Agreements in Principle for organisations to use our buildings, as they have neither the resource nor the capital. We consider the maintaining of our stock and resources imperative to attract young people and encourage other agencies to use the facilities, for the good of young people and the wider communities we serve.

5.3 Many centres can show excellent use of buildings from 8 am to 10 pm on a regular basis. Sometimes organisations consider us to be "rich" and expect to use our buildings at no cost. As a Local Authority we only ever seek to recover costs, it is rarely the case that organisations return the favour for core work in the community.

5.4 A number of organisations work in partnership with Devon Youth Service from our centres and occasionally just using our facilities examples include North Devon Homes and Community Associations and Action Groups, specialist groups such as Care wise (young carers group) and a variety of special needs groups for disabled young people and youth offending services. As a service we operate outreach and support services from most community colleges in Devon and work from Sure Start and Children Centres, forest schools, specialist sports coaches, National Parks, Natural England, local Museums, Police, parish and town councils, leisure centres and the library service to name but a few!

5.5 Mixed usage of venues encourages partnership work between agencies and more importantly a greater range of choice for young people. Teenagers can choose to use as much, or as little of services as they need and want at pivotal and crucial points in their lives. Young People are more likely to self refer and seek out additional support from peers and professionals where wider choice exists.

5.6 Cuts to the statutory youth service will no doubt have an adverse effect on youth work delivery within the 3rd sector. Young people voluntary organisations, parents and individuals recognise the support we offer and have called upon Devon County Council to continue to support the service through the Tough Choices road show, the recent all party DCC interim 53 page scrutiny report (attached) and recent Options Appraisal all published since October 2010 and recognising the Comprehensive Spending Review.

6.0 The Training and Workforce Development Needs of the sector

6.1 As previously stated our members provide excellent in-house training for young people and staff. It is our members overwhelming view that the youth work profession remains just that, by retaining National Occupational Standards as agreed through the JNC and remaining as a specialist degree course.

6.2 Nationally recognised youth work training is under threat with the proposed removal of band C funding. As a number of MP’s stated during EDM 1013, surely this is the time to investment more in university JNC courses. A significant decline in Youth Services at this critical time will surely see substantial increases in central and local budgets as costly interventions will be required.

6.3 We would ask the select committee to consider the effectiveness of youth work compared to other services which can be found in the excellent publication The Benefits of Youth Work (published by Unite).

7.0 How the Value and effectiveness of services should be assessed.

7.1 In July 2005 OFSTED published its National Inspection Paper; it stated that the 3 key aspects of the OFSTED framework would be:

· The standard young people’s achievements and the quality of youth work practice

· The quality of curriculum and resources

· Strategic and operational leadership and management

7.2 The paper went on to say that the framework stresses the importance of the local authority for setting a strong strategic direction for the service and providing the necessary financial, human and material resources, In these cases, the morale of staff and young people was almost always good.

7.3 On the 10th October 2006 Devon Youth services OFSTED Report stated they were good in the 3 key aspects. Providing "an impressive range of activities and programmes..., very effective partnerships, the workforce is competent and committed... and Management is good and forward looking".

7.4 It is the view of our Devon members that OFSTED is an independent professional organisation that understands youth work and has the objectivity and the proven tools to scrutinise Youth Services without political bias.

December 2010