Archived decisions

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

email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report summarises recent developments in the Hampshire County Youth Service (HCYS) and updates Members on recent activities including: the targeted youth support pathfinder; elections of young people from Hampshire to the UK Youth Parliament; Hampshire County Youth Council initiatives; and proposed changes to the Hampshire Forum for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

1.2 The work identified in this report outlines how the youth service is contributing to the five Every Child Matters outcomes for young people stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being identified in the Education Act 2004. The targeted youth support pathfinder will work towards all the outcomes but will have a specific focus on ensuring young people stay safe and inform the implementation of the Green Paper - Youth Matters. The main outcomes for Young people engaging in the Hampshire County Youth Council and Youth MPs is making a positive contribution. Supporting young people to engage in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award supports young people to achieve all of the five outcomes. In addition the work outlined actively contributes to corporate strategic aim 4 - building strong and safe communities and aim 5 improving services.

2 Targeted youth support

2.1 To help all young people aged 13 - 19 years achieve the five outcomes of Every Child Matters, the Green Paper Youth Matters visualises services working together to form an integrated youth support service. To help make this vision a reality The Department for Education and Skills has asked Hampshire to be a Pathfinder Authority for developing Targeted Youth Support (TYS). The Hampshire Pathfinder is 1 of 14 in England aiming to: improve outcomes for young people; improve young people's experience of services; improve the efficiency of service provision.

2.2 The county youth officer, working with members of the National Remodelling Team (NRT), and other colleagues, will be leading the Hampshire Pathfinder, and will follow a structured process developed by the NRT. It has been agreed to build the Hampshire Pathfinder on existing multi-agency partnership work in Test Valley district, focussing on vulnerable young people aged 14 to 19 years, who are: 1. at risk of exclusion. 2. causing difficulties in local communities for example by behaving anti-socially in public places. 3. young people looked after by the Authority. In the autumn a report will be published describing the models developed, identifying the improvements made and the lessons learned. The report will influence the development of youth support services across Hampshire and elsewhere in England. Regular briefing papers will be produced to report on the progress of the TYS Pathfinder, the latest version is attached as an Appendix 1.

3 UK Youth Parliament Elections

3.1 Hampshire County Youth Service organised the elections for six representatives of the UK Youth Parliament for 2006.

3.2 Nearly nine thousand young people from across Hampshire's schools and youth centres cast their vote in the November elections, making this one of the most popular youth parliament elections to date. 28 candidates stood altogether, which is also the highest number so far.

3.3 Those elected to represent their peers, who will take up their posts at the beginning of February, are:

· Hart & Rushmoor: Natalie Witt, 17 - Farnborough Sixth Form

· Basingstoke & Test Valley North: Chloe Black, 15 -Test Valley School

· New Forest & Test Valley South: Corrina Groves, 15, Ringwood

· Eastleigh & Winchester: Sarah Normington, 15 - Westgate School

· Fareham & Gosport: Katie Weston, 16 - St. Vincent's

· Havant & East Hants: Nicholas Castilla, 14 - Oaklands

3.4 Each new Member of the Youth Parliament (MYP) will be supported by a deputy, and both will spend the year working closely with representatives from Hampshire County Council's Youth Council to consult with young people in their local area on issues that affect them.

3.5 The first duty for the young people will be to meet with last year's MYPs for a hand-over meeting, so they can listen to and learn from their experiences, and in March there will be some training to undertake. The new MYPs will attend monthly regional meetings of the UK Youth Parliament and a national sitting in the summer holiday. They will also attend a monthly Hampshire County Council Youth Council meeting, where they will be able to gain wider feedback and information.

4 Hampshire County Youth Council

4.1 Appendix 2 outlines the activities The Hampshire County Youth Council (HCYC) has been involved in during the last few months which includes developing priorities and the planning of a very successful HCYC event day.

4.2 The Hampshire youth MPs have also had a busy time (appendix 3) attending both local and national meetings.

5 The Hampshire Forum for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award

5.1 The review of Hampshire's Duke of Edinburgh's Award (D of E) licence highlighted the lack of a support structure to assist the Award Officer in developing and driving the Award under the Hampshire licence. The reviews of the Southampton and Portsmouth D of E operating authorities had similar outcomes.

5.2 The Hampshire Forum of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award came into existence following Local Government Review (LGR) when it was recognised the two new unitary authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton would welcome the support of the larger geographical County network of D of E licence holders.

5.3 Following the recommendations of the licence reviews, the local authorities are establishing County or City Committees to support their work as D of E licence holders, it is therefore considered The Hampshire Forum no longer fulfils a necessary function.

5.4 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Officers of Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton propose The Hampshire Forum be dissolved at the end of 2006.

5.5 Support and development of the Award will continue through the relevant Local Award Committees, Field Officers and the co-operation between the three Award Officers. County Officers for other licences will liaise with the relevant Award Officer.

5.6 It is recognised the role of the President and Vice Presidents of The Hampshire Forum is a valuable resource for supporting the Award, and their contribution is acknowledged. Under the new structure, current Vice Presidents will be invited to become Patrons of the Award in Hampshire. Patrons will be linked to Local Award Committees or the County Committee directly.

6. Impact Assessment

6.1 No adverse impact on race or equalities has been identified in the development of this report.

7. Personnel Implications

7.1 As part of the constitution of The Hampshire Forum for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award the County Council is responsible for the secretarial duties and carried out by the Accreditation Youth Officer with the support from an administrative assistant. The considerable amount of time involved in these functions will be used to support the delivery of the award with young people.

8. Financial Implications

8.1 There are no direct financial implications to the proposals in the report.

9. Crime Prevention Issues

9.1 It has been demonstrated that good quality youth work reduces the likelihood of some young people from being involved in crime.

10. Recommendations

a) That the current developments in the Hampshire County Youth Service be welcomed and noted and the proposed changes to The Hampshire Forum of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award be supported.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. The list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

Nil