To receive a presentation from the Area Commissioner on changes to the provision of Youth Services

52.1    The Committee received a presentation from the Area Commissioner (North) updating them on proposed changes to Youth Services.  A new commissioning approach was to be adopted with a new service model involving local governance through local youth boards who would procure services from local providers.  Work had been carried out into current provision and young people’s requirements in order to identify any improvements that could be made in the future.  The Area Commissioner emphasised the importance of involving the young people throughout the whole of the process.

52.2    The Area Commissioner advised that two consultations had been held, with one consultation into interim proposals for the financial year 2014 – 15 following reductions in budget and staffing resources and one consultation on future models for delivery from 2015 – 16 onwards. Officers were currently evaluating and validating the responses and no decisions had been taken at this stage.  The response to the consultations had been very good with over 1,000 responses being received for the consultation into the interim proposals, 81% of these coming from young people between the ages of 10 and 19 years.

52.3    The Area Commissioner then outlined the time table for future work in order for the new arrangements to be in place in April 2015.

52.4    During the discussion a Member commented that she felt that it was short-sighted to reduce the funding for youth provision.  She queried how the Council would ensure that a good quality service was provided going forward and whether there would be any growth in provision.  The Area Commissioner stated that provision of a quality service would be a key part of the contract awarded.  However he could not give any guarantees regarding growth in provisions as decisions would be made at a local level, local boards would be in a good position to know the sources of additional funding available in their area, and whether extra services were needed.

52.5    A member also commented that as the Council was keen to involve young people in the development of the new services it might have been appropriate to have invited representatives such as the Shropshire MYPs to be present at the meeting.  In response the Chairman indicated that the Shropshire MYPs had a standing invitation to all meetings of the Committee.  In turn the Member advised her that the MYPs had not been aware of this meeting.

52.6    A further Member commented that with the reduction in the Council’s budget more reliance would fall upon voluntary provision and finding funding from elsewhere and that she had concerns regarding where this funding might be found especially given that funding had been removed from Local Joint Committees.  In response several Members gave examples where funding had been secured from other organisations in their areas.  A Member questioned how sustainable this would be going forward and also commented that this might lead to various levels of service being available in different areas.  She also asked how the Council would ensure that it met its statutory obligations.  In turn the Area Commissioner advised that the Council would seek as far as practicable to procure equal services over the entire county.  The Director of Children’s Services commented that the “Positive Activities” Team was only one aspect of delivering youth work and there was a team of dedicated youth workers within the early help team.

52.7    A Member asked whether the areas covered by the proposed area youth boards had been agreed as it was important that this was given careful consideration to ensure that the areas were able to meet the needs of the young people.  She commented that the very rural areas presented specific problems as it was difficult to find volunteers and also given the lack of public transport it was difficult for young people to travel far to access services.  She asked that any proposals were “rural proofed”.  In response the Area Commissioner advised that the areas covered by the proposed Youth Boards had yet to be finalised, but that it was critical that the areas were drawn up correctly.  The very rural nature of the County needed to be taken into consideration when planning the service and a wider discussion was needed around this subject.

52.8    A Member enquired how many people were currently employed in the Positive Activities Team.  In reply the Area Commissioner indicated that there were currently 101 people employed which equated to 20.6 FTE posts.

52.9    A Member commented that the Town and Parish Councils might be able to take over some of the provision of youth work.  The Area Commissioner advised the meeting that this might be a possibility and more work was needed to investigate this further.

59.10  A Member informed the meeting that he had spoken to a youth worker who had expressed concern about one of the consultation events they had attended.  The Chairman commented that if Council employees had any concerns then they should speak directly to their line manager.

59.11  The Chairman thanked the Area Commissioner for his presentation and it was agreed that a further report should be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.