Archived decisions

Contact: Malcolm Rittman, County Youth Officer, Tel: 01962 846370

John Wilkinson, ACEO Lifelong Learning, Tel: 01962 845084

1. Summary

1.1 Connexions is a new national advice and guidance service for all 13-19 year olds. It will improve and enhance the range of services for young people so that they will be able to get the help and support they need to reach their potential and make an effective transition to work and adult life. The key objective is to encourage more young people to stay in education, training and work.

1.2 Hampshire County Council agreed to participate in piloting Connexions activity from April 2000. It has been agreed with Government Office that pilot activities will continue until the full service begins to be implemented from September 2002, subject to plans being approved by the Government Office. 2002/2003 will be a transition year to the full programme.

1.3 Pilot projects were developed in three areas of Hampshire: Gosport, New Forest and Winchester. These experiences have provided valuable learning for developing future Connexions work, but are in themselves not fully representatives of Connexions.

1.4 A model for implementing Connexions in Hampshire has been developed and considered by the Local Management Committee for Hampshire, following involvement of other partners through a process of consultation.

1.5 The pilot activity has been co-ordinated by the County Youth Officer, including establishing the structures and a delivery team to support the work. This work has been regularly reported to the Youth Panel.

1.6 Planning for implementation is being co-ordinated by the recently appointed Chief Executive for the South Central Connexions Partnership (SCCP) and had to be completed for presentation to the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) and the Connexions Service National Unit (CSNU) by 26 April 2002. The SCCP covers Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. Each of the four LEA areas has a Local Management Committee to develop and coordinate policy more locally.

1.7 Continued County Council support is requested for the next stage of Connexions developments, particularly for its work with schools and delivering contracts to develop Connexions in Hampshire.

2. Features of the Model

2.1 Connexions in Hampshire will be co-ordinated by a local manager, responsible to the SCCP Chief Executive and reporting to the Local Management Committee (LMC). The Local Manager in Hampshire will be supported by a manager and local co-ordinators working within Hampshire County Council (HCC) and responsible for developing work in district council areas. Connexions will build on the strengths of existing services, develop co-operation and enable close working relationships with schools and colleges in each district as well as enhancing links with community strategic development and safety partnership plans of local authorities.

2.2 The Connexions Service plan will aim to enhance opportunities for young people to improve their study and qualifications and to gain access to employment or further study, with specific targets for those who currently either fall through the gaps between services or struggle with existing processes.

2.3 The service developed within districts will have five strands, which are outlined below:

2.3.1 Access and introduction: this strand will be promoted and co-ordinated through `One stop shop' information projects, featuring multi-agency service delivery and will enable young people to access a network of opportunities or relevant provision in the district. These projects will be supported by an inter-agency `Support and Advisory Group' made up of the professional staff involved. The project will offer young people a seamless service, which is welcoming, safe, accessible and non-judgemental.

The services will include:

· Connexions: personal advisers and information officers;

· Youth Service: providing advice, information and youth counselling;

· Careers: careers officers providing information, advice and support;

· Schools and colleges: providing curriculum, career, personal and social education advice and support

· Health information; sexual health information and advice, drug prevention services; Education Welfare Service (EWS); Youth Offending Team (YOT); Police liaison; Probation Service; Housing; District & County Council services and voluntary organisations, where appropriate and possible.

2.3.2 Additional Delivery Teams: Each district will have an additional delivery team consisting of two or three personal advisers working from an Access and Information base. The teams will provide support to schools, colleges, hospitals, training providers, residential establishments, young people not engaged in education, training or employment, and other organisations working with young people. The personal advisers will promote Connexions services to young people in the organisations by providing links, networks and support to meet individual and group needs. The personal advisers will be experienced and skilled staff with both individual and group work skills providing responsive and flexible support to young people.

2.3.3 Careers Service: Southern Careers officers will provide ongoing services to schools and colleges, support for the information networks and be involved in additional delivery teams. This will include enhanced services for work with young people who have special educational needs. In addition, they will continue to train and develop leaders in schools and colleges.

2.3.4 Existing Services: established services and organisations for example the Youth Service and Voluntary Organisations will extend the work of access initiatives and additional delivery teams by providing further opportunities and support for young people. A co-operative approach will be required on the part of all organisations to provide young people with good quality, seamless services. This may prove challenging for some services in the Education Department as they will have to balance new demands with the statutory duties.

2.3.5 Multi-agency Initiatives: co-operative working between agencies will be encouraged to respond to specific issues and needs in order to develop new and innovative approaches to working with and responding to young people.

2.4 To support the work developed in each of the strands outlined above, additional personal advisers will be involved from a range of agencies and organisations (appendix 1).

3. Support for Connexions

3.1 Hampshire County Council's role currently includes: Company Partner; a Partnership Board Director through the CEO to South Central Connexions Board; Co-ordination and management of the LMC; Co-ordination and management of pilot activities; delivering services and supporting delivery.

3.2 Pilot Connexions activity has impacted directly on a number of roles within the Education Department. Co-ordination of both the pilot project and preparation for implementation of Connexions across Hampshire is managed currently by the County Youth Officer (CYO). It is appropriate, following implementation, for the CYO to continue to coordinate Connexions within the Education Department. Connexions will provide support to, and will need involvement of, a number of Education Department services, especially the Inclusion Branch. In addition, Social Services (Children and Families Branch) will make a significant contribution to the Connexions Service.

3.3 From September, schools will become progressively more involved and become active partners in the development of Connexions, by promoting the service or referring students to personal advisers. This will involve pastoral, careers and PSHE staff and the establishment of Connexions focal points in schools. A programme to inform schools of Connexions developments will take place during the summer term. Schools will benefit from the improved coordination and support for young people.

3.4 Following implementation, additional commitments, pressure on management structures and the impact on the Youth Service need to be recognised and supported. The Youth Service is expected to continue to contribute significantly to Connexions. It is estimated that about 25% of existing work within the Youth Service will be supporting directly the Connexions Service. Recent Government statements about the Youth Service have made it clear that at least 80% of current resources should be committed to work with 13-19 year olds.

3.5 The involvement of a broad range of young people will be built into the development, planning, delivery and evaluation of Connexions Services. These approaches will need to be planned, resourced and embedded in practice. The Youth Service will support this work through the County Youth Council and Local Youth Forums and young people are already contributing actively to developments. It is acknowledged that tensions may result between the needs expressed by young people and views expressed by other stakeholders but this is all part of the process. The tension between the availability of resources and the ability of staff to deliver will also need to be managed carefully.

4. Resources

4.1 Connexions builds on existing work and so the budgets of schools, county council services, voluntary organisations and other agencies are already involved. Those budgets remain under the control of those organisations.

4.2 Connexions helps other organisations make best use of their resources to support and advise young people. Additional resources are also provided from central government. These additional services support the whole of the Connexions area. In a full year, the additional resources targeted specifically on Hampshire will amount to some £1.9million funding some 64 full-time equivalent posts as well as training, information and other support staff. An example of the benefits brought by Connexions is the funding of additional specialists to advise young people with special needs (and their parents); there will be three additional specialist initially with an intention to increase that number.

5. Developing Connexions

5.1 In order to implement Connexions effectively a number of key tasks need to be completed. These are outlined below:

· Hampshire County Council will need to contract with South Central Connexions Partnership and agree the apportionment of funding to manage and co-ordinate Connexions, develop access and information points and employ additional delivery teams

· A development plan for supporting Connexions needs to be approved by Hampshire Local Management Committee, South Central Connexions Partnership and the Connexions Service National Unit

· Appropriate agencies and organisations working with 13-19 year olds need to be clearly and fully informed about the work of Connexions and their role within it. This will apply particularly to schools and colleges in order to ensure they are supported to assist in delivery Connexions effectively

· The levels of support of existing services needs to be further identified and the impact of this developing support work for young people monitored

· Local management groups and for a will be established in each district council area. These groups will build on existing networks and initiatives wherever possible in order to avoid duplication.

6. Recommendations

The Education Policy Review Committee advises the Executive Member for Education that:

· the partnership work of the County Council with the South Central Connexions Partnership be endorsed.

· the impact and pressure upon existing services as their work integrates with Connexions be monitored.

· support be given to the work of County Council services with schools and other organisations in implementing Connexions across the County.

· Member participation in the development of local consultative groups is encouraged.