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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.
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Youth Service
provision across Wales is varied and tailored to young people and
community needs. Therefore it is difficult to comment on
national variations. However, details can be found in the
Welsh Government annual audit
As part of the
South East Wales region activity is broadly similar and is
delivered in youth clubs, schools, detached settings and
projects. However the variation within delivery methods are
significant as a result of a number of factors, such as funding,
availability of other youth support services, directorate,
topography and identified needs etc.
For example,
Torfaen Youth Service, in partnership with Torfaen Play and Social
Services, operates a summer and holiday programme for young people
18+ with disabilities. This is in response to financial
limitations and the specific needs of the young
people.
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If you believe that there are particular
problems, how do you think they could be resolved?
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With the removal of the statutory requirement
for an age specific partnership (former Children and Young People
Partnerships) it has become increasingly challenging to ensure that
planning and delivery is appropriately joined up
In general ,multi agency workforce plans for
Children and Young People could be better developed across
organisations that work with young people, taking into
consideration the difference between professional youth workers and
workers with youths
A nationally coordinated approach to youth work
could take into consideration skill sets, professional status,
funding etc. The question of how this co-ordination could
happen would require further discussion and debate.
Youth Work should be integral to the development
of policy for example, the profession should influence policies
such as ‘Successful Futures’ and therefore shape policy
at the beginning rather than at implementation.
The National Principal Youth Officers Group
(PYOG), which is a sub group of Assistant Directors of Education
Wales Group (ADEW), should be instrumental in influencing the
development of policy rather than responding to policy
consultation. For example, the paper on Youth Work
contribution to the ‘Curriculum for Life’ which proved
to be extremely informative in introducing the role of youth work
into the debate.
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Question 2
- How effective do
you think the Welsh Government strategy and policy on youth work
is?
In
considering this question you may wish to think about:
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the Welsh Government’s specific youth work policy and
strategy such as ‘The Youth Work offer’; The Wales
Charter for Youth Work; The National Youth Work Strategy for Wales
2014 to 2018;
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Welsh Government departmental responsibilities and whether there is
a cross-departmental and co-ordinated approach to support youth
work provision.
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The PYOG agrees
with Welsh Government’s attempts to ensure there is more
consistency in service provision and outcomes for young people via
youth work interventions. The sector is keen to engage in
discussions to better demonstrate how youth work makes a difference
to the lives of young people. This includes the Principles
and Purposes, The National Youth Work strategy and in a lesser way
the Wales Charter for Youth Work.
When considering
these matters however, services at a local level need to ensure the
offer from youth services is relevant and meets the needs of its
young people, which can sometimes appear to be in opposition to
National priorities. For example, the expectation from
communities is to retain open access youth clubs, however this can
be challenging when policy is directing youth services towards
targeted intervention. These two issues are not necessarily
mutually exclusive but, in the context of an extremely challenging
funding climate and the differing needs of young people national
priorities, should have the flexibility to meet local need where
necessary.
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How do
you think the Welsh Government could approach its youth work
strategy and policy differently / to better effect?
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As part of the
response to the National Outcomes Framework to Youth Work
consultation it was identified within the PYOG submission that much
of social policy in the UK and Wales in recent years has been based
on Outcomes (or results) Based Accountability (OBA).
This method of
planning and assessing performance describes performance
measurement categories in terms of ‘effort’ (how much
did we do?/how well did we do it?) and ‘effect’ (is
anyone better off?).
In order to report
against outcomes following youth work interventions, the sector
(including young people) needs to carefully consider and identify
what it wishes to achieve as a result of these e.g. in Scotland,
the following are identified:
- Young people are
confident, resilient and optimistic for the future
- Young people
manage personal, social and formal relationships
- Young people
create, describe and apply their learning skills
- Young people
participate safely and effectively in groups
- Young people
consider risk, make reasoned decisions and take control
- Young people
express their voice and demonstrate social commitment
- Young people
broaden their perspectives through new experiences and
thinking
Much of this can
be applied here in Wales too. The PYOG would suggest that the five
pillars of youth work in Youth Work in Wales: Principles &
Purposes (Educative; Expressive; Participative; Inclusive and
Empowering) should form the basis for developing an outcomes chart
for Wales – these principles are also implicitly present in
the Wales Charter for Youth Work. This also needs to link
with higher level outcomes/goals in the Wellbeing of Future
Generations Act, so that the sector can articulate its contribution
to these.
Cross departmental
policy development in Welsh Government needs to take into
consideration the national Youth Work Strategy for wales to ensure
policies dovetail into one another, with this intention of shared
outcome measures.
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Question 3
- What are your
views on the funding available for youth work, including through
Local Authority, Welsh Government, European Union, and Third
Sector.
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The local
authority is facing substantial financial challenges and as a
result the indicative allocation for Youth Services within the
Revenue Support Grant is allocated in response to a wide range of
needs across the borough. Overall, across Wales there is
significant disparity between the percentages allocated to the
Youth Service in each local authority. The funding can be
allocated in response to the perception that youth services are
discretionary, however Extending Entitlement; Direction and
Guidance July 2002, set out a statutory basis and direction for the
Youth Service in Wales for the first time. This statement of
understanding is echoed with the National Youth Work Strategy for
Wales 2014-2018
Some funding for
activity that could be carried out by youth workers is hypothecated
and therefore cannot always be allocated to the wider need, for
example the Pupil Deprivation Grant allocated to schools is
specifically attributed to closing the gap in response to
presenting need. Many youth service alternative curriculum
programmes within schools address tis but receive no additional
funding from the PDG
There appears to
be high levels of funding channelled toward targeted initiatives
that are very limited in their scope. As a result young
people are being assessed against funding criteria as opposed to a
holistic approach offered through universal provision. Open
access provision is the gateway through which young people can be
supported to access specific provision based on need.
Much youth service
and wider youth support service provision is funded through grants:
this often means that, in addition to a lack of flexibility to
respond locally, provision can be delivered in relation to the
available resource, not necessarily the presenting need.
Grants usually sit outside of the LA’s mainstream budget
process, and therefore do not always drive discussions about the
appropriateness of the provision in quite the same way. We
would recommend that grants provided by WG be incorporated into our
RSG settlement and not be limited to a year on year approval
process.
In the absence of
the Children and Young Peoples Partnerships or their equivalents,
and the targeted nature of funding the formal mechanism for
collaborative approaches may not be as well developed as
possible. That said the academic research on “joining
up” tends to emphasise the importance of leadership, rather
than structures for example succession planning and work
force.
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If you believe there are problems in this area,
how do you think they could be resolved?
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A national co-ordinated approach to Youth
Support Services.
A long term shared outcomes framework for
children and young people, recognising all the different
professions that contribute.
With the need for organisations to work closer
together on the ‘Social Care Health and Wellbeing Act’
and the ‘Future Generations Act’ this maybe an
opportunity for a multiagency approach to funding and workforce
planning, especially within the development of the shared outcomes
framework.
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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).
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It should be noted
that the Registration of Youth Workers is a positive model, as
identified within the first round of consultations.
The Quality Mark
is a positive development in recognising quality youth work.
It is important that WG clarify the status of the Quality Mark and
ensure that it is robustly administered to ensure consistency of
quality.
Transport
continues to be a significant barrier for young people to access
their full entitlement to services which would enable them to
become socially and economically mobile. There is still a
inconsistencies in cost to young people and a national pricing
structure could address this.
We welcome the
opportunity to be part of a national inspectorate
framework.
Capital funding
should be made available to Youth Services as many of the
facilities used to deliver youth work require updating in response
to the changing needs of young people.
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Question
5 - If you had to
make one recommendation to the Welsh Government from all the points
you have made, what would that recommendation be?
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Recognition of the professional status of youth
work and its statutory role supporting children and young people
and the development of an independent national co-ordinating
organisation.
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