Archived decisions

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

email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The Green Paper Youth Matters visualises services working together to form an integrated youth support service to enable all young people aged 13 - 19 years achieve the five outcomes of Every Child Matters. To explore how this vision can be realised 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. This paper outlines the activities involved in the pathfinder and the progress made.

1.2 The county youth officer, working with members of the National Remodelling Team (NRT), and other colleagues, is leading the Hampshire Pathfinder, and following 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 13 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

1.3 The pathfinder project explores how targeted support for young people will enable them to achieve more effectively 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. In addition the outcomes of the pathfinder actively contributes to corporate strategic aim 4 - building strong and safe communities and aim 5 improving services.

2 Aims

2.1 The Hampshire Pathfinder is 1 of 13 in England aiming to:

· Improve outcomes for young people

· Improve young people's experience of services

· Improve the efficiency of service provision.

3. Scope of the pathfinder

3.1 Staff from Hampshire County Council's Children's Services Department are working with members of the National Remodelling Team (NRT), to develop and learn from a process developed, and tested, by the NRT. The following stages are involved in the process:

3.1.1 A mobilising stage which engages stakeholders, develops a detailed plan and communicates with service deliverers and young people.

3.2 A Discovery Stage which involves:

· Focussed interviews with young people, strategic managers and operational staff from various agencies.

· The gathering of existing data and performance indicators.

· Workshops for young people, mapping the journey they currently take through existing services.

3.2.1 Thirty focussed interviews have been conducted with strategic managers and operational staff. Two hundred young people, living in Test Valley district, have been consulted about their experience of the services they receive and the improvements they wish to see.

3.2.2 An additional 38 young people have taken the opportunity to share their views at a workshop held recently at Calshot Activities Centre. The consultation involved youth workers and colleagues from Hampshire County Council's Recreation and Heritage Department. The consultation process was punctuated with some enjoyable and challenging activities, including climbing, ski-bobbing and archery. The views young people expressed will be taken forward in the development stage.

The process and key findings of this stage are set out in appendix 1.

3.3 A development Stage including:

· Multi-agency and young people's workshops, examining the issues identified in the mapping process and identifying ways forward.

· Making recommendations to senior managers, through the Youth Matters Group, about new service models and how improvements can be delivered.

3.3.1 The delivery stage: involves delivering the improvements on agreed priorities.

3.3.2 A scoping meeting, involving members of the NRT and the staff leading the Hampshire Pathfinder, took place in November 2005, which developed an action plan to test out an learn from the NRT process and lead to a final report in November 2006.

4. Impact Assessment

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

5. Personnel Implications

5.1 Support for the pathfinder includes a substantial time commitment from two members of the NRT, and resources have been made available for organising and delivering workshops. The county youth officer will be leading the project team for Hampshire County Council and resources from the DfES have been made available for back-filling.

6. Financial Implications

6.1 The time-frame for the Hampshire Youth Support Pathfinder is November 2005 to the end of September 2006. It is recognised that this is a tight time-frame. A grant of £30,000 has been made available to support the pathfinder.

7. Crime Prevention Issues

7.1 It expected that improving the quality of targeted support for young people will reduce the likelihood of some young people from being involved in crime.

8. Recommendations

That the involvement of Hampshire County Council in the pathfinder be welcomed and that Members be kept informed on progress and outcomes of the pathfinder activities.

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.

Youth Matters - Green Paper 2005