Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru | National Assembly for Wales

Y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Children, Young People and Education Committee

Ymchwiliad i Waith Ieuenctid | Inquiry into Youth Work

YW 21

Ymateb gan : Chwarau Cymru

Response from : Play Wales

Play Wales is a member organisation of the Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services (CWYVS).  We have seen CWVYS’s response to this consultation and we endorse it.  We have responded to the questions, which are most relevant to our main area of work and our beneficiaries.

Question 1 - What are your views on young people’s access to youth work services, including, for example:

- levels of provision across Wales and any regional variation;

- issues relating to access for specific groups of young people e.g. language, disability, rurality, ethnicity.

Access is directly and adversely affected by the huge variations in spend by local authorities (LAs) via the Revenue Settlement Grant (RSG) because of non-hypothecation. This is evidenced by Welsh Government Statistics Unit report for 2014-15:

http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/youth-services/?lang=en

and

http://gov.wales/docs/statistics/2015/151020-youth-work-2014-15-en.pdf

How do you think the Welsh Government could approach its youth work strategy and policy differently / to better effect?

The issue of youth voice is perhaps not as clearly defined as it might be – which is unfortunate given the National Assembly’s recent drive to encourage young people to participate in democratic engagement processes.

Wales once led the way in young people’s participation. Wales currently has no recognised Youth Assembly, resulting in no seats being taken up at the UK Youth Parliament. Serious questions are being asked in other UK nations about Wales’s absence.

Voices of young people need to be expressed, listened to and acted upon in a new Wales Youth Assembly.

Question 4 – Are there any other issues you consider relevant to the Inquiry that you think the Committee should be made aware of?

(for example: workforce related issues; the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales; buildings and infrastructure; youth work in schools; transport issues; access to digital technology; Welsh Government’s consultation on proposals to register and inspect some out of school education settings).

As of 1 April 2016 the age limit for registration of childcare and play settings in Wales was extended from 8 to 12 years.

All childcare and play provision – (including after school clubs, holiday play schemes and play provision) - for children under 12 years old, operating for 2 or more hours a day, are now regulated and inspected by the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW)

These regulatory changes to include children up to the age of 12, carries a requirement for providers to hold a suitable qualification for working with over 8’s.  This would need to be a playwork qualification. Some youth work provision offers junior or transitional clubs with children under the age of 11.  These may now need to be registered with the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW).

Play Wales draws the Committee’s attention to the impact this will have on youth services, particularly the voluntary youth service, particularly in terms of workforce issues/suitability of staff. 

Play Wales has been commissioned (along with WEA YMCA College Cymru) to develop a new playwork qualification.  The Level 2 Award in Playwork Practice (L2APP) has been developed to respond to the needs of the play and playwork workforce as defined in Welsh Government’s statutory guidance, Wales – A Play Friendly Country (2014). The qualification is being developed with Agored Cymru and will be ready for delivery in early 2017.

Play Wales believes that, for staff working in youth work and community settings that offer junior youth or transitional clubs, L2APP would sufficiently meet the regulatory requirements when held alongside a suitable youth work qualification for non-supervisory staff.  We are currently seeking the agreement of this from the Welsh Government Childcare & Play Policy Team.  This agreement, we feel, would support vital provision to continue to operate and support children and young people to access community based services.