Hampshire County Council

Executive Lead Member for Children's Services

Item 1

31 May 2007

Strategy for moving to an integrated youth support service from April 2008

Report of the Director of Children's Services

3.

Background

In July 2005 the DfES launched Youth Matters. The proposals contained within it were underpinned by 6 principles

· Services more responsive to young people and their parents

· Balancing greater opportunities and support with promoting young people's responsibility

· Making services more integrated efficient and effective

· Improving outcomes for all young people

· Involving a wide range of organisations

· Building on the best of what currently exists.

3.1

The themes of Youth Matters were reflected in the County Youth Services planning processes from 2006/07. The extensive joint working between Hampshire Youth Service and South Central connexions Partnership established a clear specification of current provision across all districts, the resources deployed and the targets being met. It served also to highlight that financial constraints had limited what might be achieved in some parts of the county.

3.2

Following receipt of that specification in February 2007 the Deputy Director of Children's Services (Children and Families) and the Chief Executive of SCCP commissioned consultant support, using GOSE Transition Fund Grant, to recommend options for service delivery from April 2008. In addition to that report, the Children's Services Department's Strategic Manager for Youth and Community set out a vision for a way forward, developed the strategy and explored how that could be delivered through districts.

3.3

3.4

3.5

The consultant's report considered four options varying from transfering all Connexions staff to the County council to transfering all Connexions and Youth service staff to an arms-length agency through open competition. The report did not make a specific recommendation in favour of a particular option. It did though recommend that provision should be built around universal entitlement and the universal offer; that integration should be linked to workforce development; that major transfers should not compromise future organisational arrangements until it has been able to evaluate the existing 13-19 pilots and pathfinders and that there should be a discrete service offer for 13-19 yr olds with well-managed transition into and out of that age range. It highlighted the importance of commissioning services and doing so at district level.

The Strategic Manager's report was predicated on a recognition that children, families, carers and local communities best understand the needs of their young people, and their interests rest in local rather than county wide strategic solutions. Thus services need to be commissioned as locally as possible and the governance arrangements built within districts have a real place for children and young people to influence those outcomes and service development. The report recommended bringing together all the targeted, specialist and universal services, with the Information, Advice and Guidance component treated as a single entity commissioned through local 14-19 consortia or similar.

Both reports highlight a number of key issues when considering the way forward:

· General acceptance that joining up services provides better support for young people

· Both Connexions and the Youth Service demonstrate significant good practice in joining up services and the range of partnerships that have developed

· Preparation work for IYSS has shown little duplication in service delivery

· Moving to a mixed economy approach based on district level commissioning/ procurement will require a better understanding across partners of how commissioning should work

· Involving young people in any review/ rationalisation of resources is essential, as is a strong county coherence and equity, ideally through central strategic direction for commissioning and resource allocation

· Whatever approach is adopted it will need clear governance and, if a mixed economy or external agents are chosen, a commissioning unit lead

· The 13-19 agenda and how that develops across Hampshire is a significant influence

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

3.10

3.11

3.12

The Issues To Consider

From April 2008 the Grant which currently goes direct to SCCP will become part of the Local Area Agreement Grant passed to the County Council to determine the provision and who supplies it. There is emerging national guidance about how that should be managed, including a joint statement from the National Youth Agency, the Association of Principal Youth and Community Officers and the National Association of Connexions Partners called `Creating Integrated Youth support and Development'. There has also been guidance on the "opt out" process and maintaining high quality IAG services from April 2008 and more recently Connexions: Involve on "Framework for involving children and young people in procurement and commissioning". More may follow and the GOSE/4LAs/SCCP Transition Group, chaired by GOSE, is assisting understanding and providing a forum for sharing approaches, risks and options.

The highest risk identified by the County Council Risks Group, a group of specialists on procurement, HR, pensions, IT Systems, legal and finance; is around finance. The current grant to Connexions is about £14.5m, of which Hampshire is about £8.7m. However, statements from government, tested during our liaison meetings with GOSE, suggest that it is highly probable that assumed savings from the new arrangements will be retained centrally and therefore a lower figure will result. Latest advice suggests an "indicative" or "notional" figure will be available in May 2007 based on a funding formula. Other risks around TUPE, pensions and property are identified and can be managed. The pensions risk is mainly a liability issue for SCCP and all four LAs have joined with SCCP to raise the concerns with the DfES. It should be noted though that SCCP have a number of significant risks, particularly around pensions and property. On the former the County Council has joined with the other three local authorities in writing to the DfES in support of the potential difficult position SCCP may find itself in.

Any change process concerning direct service delivery carries with it the risk that quality and focus may drop. Both SCCP and the Youth service are committed to minimising this risk.

The Children's Services Directorate is undergoing major change with a raft of initiatives and developments that are yet to be fully embedded in the new ways of working and the culture. This is based on an overall strategic direction: front line services which focus on the needs of the local community and delivered through a mix of dedicated and commissioned professionals, with strong area and central leadership deploying targeted resources based on clear needs criteria. Planning and governance frameworks are developing across the department and corporately. The role of the Hampshire Action Teams will be factored in to support this. Over time, it is likely that matrix management of staff will become a requirement and the development of skills to support that will need to be considered as the County Council's new leadership and management competencies are rolled out.

Any evaluation of the options considered has to take account of all the changes currently underway across Children's Services. The progress to date, the capacity of the organisation to undertake further change and the evolving developments around locality teams, and further changes that may follow upon current external inspections, are all factors to consider. Perhaps the most critical factor, is the views of staff and their commitment to change. Recent surveys are generally positive on both.

The preferred option set out in the recommendation to this report meets the principles outlined in Youth Matters. It ensures that the information, advice and guidance component together with other relevant parts of the service are intrinsically linked with the development of the local 14 -19 consortia and is thus responsive to local need. The community based services involve young people and communities as critical informants to the localised commissioning arrangements which will enable small voluntary groups to play a major part in delivering services and thus bring flexibility and diversity to provision. It continues the integration process already begun by ensuring management arrangements are through District Service Managers and enables good opportunities to formalise and develop the multitude of partnership arrangements that already exist locally and are seen as existing good practice. The proposal will lead to a core offer of the 4 elements of youth matters being available to all young people across the county with additional opportunities commissioned in districts to meet local need.

Hampshire has been one of 14 national pilots for Targeted Youth Support. The learning gained from that pilot opportunity has significantly influenced this recommendation and will further support the development of locality teams and targeted support for young people through increased integration of all those involved with young people who need additional support.

4.

County Council and Children Act priorities

4.1

4.2

The proposals in this report are expected to enable young people to take an active part in developing services that meet their needs and in so doing will be in support of the County Council's corporate priorities.

It also supports the outcomes of the Children Act. Young people will have increased access to flexible and diverse opportunities which will help them to make informed choices about their health; stay safe through an increased range of activities; enjoy and achieve through excellent integrated Information advice and guidance and make a positive contribution through their involvement in developing services and additional volunteering opportunities.

5.

5.1

Consultation to date

Following a scoping exercise in early 2006 and involving partners, there has been extensive joint working between SCCP and the County Council since October 2006 in preparation to a consideration of service delivery options to commence in April 2008.

6.

6.1

Legal Implications

Legal guidance has been sought throughout the process and will be particularly crucial as the procurement/ commissioning arrangements are finalised.

7.

7.1

Financial implications

Para 3.7 sets out the uncertain financial situation from April 2008. The 06/07 financial provision was £5.9m through the Youth service (of which £0.9m was from external sources) and the Hampshire proportion of the current national grant to SCCP was about£8.7m

8.

8.1

Personnel implications

There are significant issues around the potential transfer of staff under TUPE regulations. Human Resource specialists representing the County Council, the other three local authorities and SCCP are meeting to ensure all staff are treated fairly and equally in accordance with the regulations.

9.

9.1

Impact assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

10.

10.1

Crime Prevention Issues

Moving to an integrated youth support service should as one outcome contribute to the prevention of crime among young people, by providing a more co-ordinated approach to an increased number of diversionary activities and opportunities.

11.

11.1

Conclusion

Adoption of the proposals, subject to testing, set out in this report will place the County Council, in partnership with other organisations, in a better position to influence directly and support young people in making Hampshire a better place for children.

LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY

Yes

No

Hampshire safer and more secure for all

_

Maximising well-being

_

Enhancing our quality of place

_

This proposal does not link to the Corporate Strategy but, nevertheless, requires a decision because: