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3. 3.1 |
Context 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. |
3.2 |
The themes of Youth Matters were reflected in the County Youth Services planning processes from 2006/07. 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. |
3.3 |
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. |
3.4 3.5 3.6 |
The consultant's report considered four options varying from transfer all SCCP staff to the County Council, to transfer all SCCPs 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 (IAG)component treated as a single entity commissioned through local 14-19 consortia or similar. These combined pieces of work feed into the recommendation about overall provision which was subsequently not agreed by the Lead Member. However, the key themes they identified remain applicable. These are: · There is 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 Integrated Youth Support Services (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
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3.7 3.8 |
The Issues To Consider From April 2008 the grant which currently goes direct to SCCP will become part of Hampshire's Local Area Agreement (LAA) for the LAA Board 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/four local authorities (LAs)/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's share is about £8.7m. Whilst indicative figures for 2008/09 have been received they cannot be used with any security pending the Comprehensive Spending Review. There is also the additional factor of the LAA grant allocation process which is unclear and is referred to elsewhere in this report. Other risks around TUPE, pensions and property are identified and will require very careful management. 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. To date no firm response has been received. It should be noted though that SCCP have a number of significant risks, particularly around pensions and property. |
4. 4.1 |
Service Delivery Vision The Children's Services Department is committed to ensuring that all young people achieve their full potential, including economic wellbeing as active citizens belonging to and being valued in their communities. |
4.2 |
Principle The County Council wants to build the service with young people and their communities so that they see their needs and interests at the heart of everything the County Council does. |
4.3 |
Method The County's aspiration must be to offer a service for all young people (11 - 19 years of age and up to 25 for those with learning difficulties and disabilities) and to target those who are likely to have additional needs and are therefore less likely to achieve their full potential. In the first instance service delivery will focus on those aged 13 and up. The approach will be consistent with the aspects outlined in Youth Matters and, therefore, will include empowering young people (things to do, places to go;) young people as citizens (making a contribution); supporting choices (information, advice and guidance); and, all young people achieving (reformed targeted youth support.). The approach therefore will: · Ensure a dedicated competent workforce that listens, values, supports and challenges young people. · Ensure services will be based on needs analysis, priority setting, performance management, and consultation · Work with partners - statutory, voluntary and private - to increase the range of universal and targeted facilities and activities available to young people. This will include deploying a proportion of staff within other existing universal and targeted services such as: schools, colleges, entry to employment, 14 - 19 consortia, leaving care teams, and the Youth Offending Team (YOT). The aspiration is that the proportion of front line staff deployed in this way will be no less than is the case currently. · Directly manage some universal and targeted services, ensuring that young people who need additional support can progress from universal to targeted services through the common assessment framework. Young people can either self refer or be referred. |
4.4 |
Universal Service The universal service will need to offer safe places where young people can: · access a range of recreational and leisure activities · meet and socialise · engage in (curriculum based) personal development opportunities · obtain information, advice and guidance · meet together in specialist youth groups such as minority groups and those who are more vulnerable · engage in democratic processes including in their schools and colleges · volunteer in a range of environments. |
4.5 |
Targeted Service The targeted service will need to offer additional support and access to: · Specialist information, advice, guidance and advocacy. · Intensive individual and group work including counselling. |
4.6 |
Quality standards and performance management Services will deliver against a set of minimum standards and be monitored against internal and external performance indicators. |
4.7 |
Management and Partnerships Whilst this area will be managed through the Children's Service Department structures, local partnership arrangements will be established linking service design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation to the District Local Strategic Partnership Children and Young People's sub-groups, working closely with other partnerships, including relevant 14-19 consortia. Such partnerships will involve young people. |
4.8 |
Structure of service Integration in this context does not simply mean joining together Connexions and the Youth Service; it means integrating their areas of work into the Children Service's Department with the objective of improving outcomes for young people. There is a range of solution to the structural challenge. These areas of work could fall entirely within Children and Families Branch, entirely within Education and Inclusion, or they could be distributed between the two. Discussions have been lengthy, complicated and they need to be ongoing, involving the workforce concerned before a preferred option is brought for decision. |
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4.9 |
Process and issues to consider An outline project plan has been drafted and shared with the Chief Executive, SCCP, and the timescale is as follows: Project deadlines Action Deadline Date Engagement with stakeholders, customers and staff 31 August 2007 New service development 1 October 2007 Initial identification of Connexions staff eligible for TUPE and County Council staff who are impacted by the change 1 October 2007 Report to Executive Member on finalised structure and any service level agreement proposals 11 October 2007 Report to Executive Member on outcomes of TUPE exercise and potential implications to County Council 13 December 2007 Consultation with County Council Staff 31 December 2007 Consultation with Connexions staff re TUPE 14 January 2008 TUPE Transfer process completed 31 March 2008 Slotting in, interview and appointment of Connexions (TUPED) and County Council staff to new roles from 1 April 2008 31 March 2008 New Service goes live 1 April 2008 The move to the new arrangements will be lead by a Project Board, chaired by the Director of Children's Services, with specific "task and finish" project groups reporting to ensure all issues are addressed in a co-ordinated way. The Chief Executive, SCCP, will be a Board member. Each project group will have representation from SCCP wherever appropriate. Regular two-way communications with staff, associations, schools and young people will be essential and a dedicated website will be available to staff including a `frequently asked questions' facility. Any change process concerning direct service delivery carries with it the risk that quality and focus may drop. Both SCCP and the County Council's Children's Services are committed to minimising this risk and have agreed, in principle, to co-ordinate joint communications to all staff. The financial framework within which the new service will operate from April 2008 will require new governance arrangements as the grant which currently goes direct to SCCP will become part of the Local Area Agreement from April 2008. The County Treasurer and Chief Executive will be working with the Children's Services Department on those emerging arrangements to ensure clarity in reporting and accountability. The report refers above to the risk analysis undertaken and the identification of secure funding as a high risk area requiring careful monitoring. The property implications, Connexions shops in particular, will require support from PBRS. The human resource issues, including Transfer of undertakings, protection and employment (TUPE) and other considerations, will require careful and sensitive management involving staff, staff associations recognised trade union representatives and the other three local authorities. The Acting Director of Human Resources will be involved and additional short term resource support will be required to ensure issues are resolved quickly to minimise uncertainty amongst staff. The work associated with the TUPE transfer of a significant number of staff is considerable and this will require dedicated HR resources. Initial discussions with SCCP, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight authorities, co-ordinated by GOSE, have identified areas of central support within SCCP which may be best retained through formal 3 year service level agreements. Where Hampshire is the lead authority providing a service to other local authorities, the proposed service level arrangement will be reported to the Executive Member for formal approval. |
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5. |
County Council and Children Act priorities |
5.1 5.2 |
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.The proposals also support the outcomes of the Children Act 2004. 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. |
6. 6.1 |
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. |
7. 7.1 |
Legal Implications Legal guidance has been sought throughout the process. |
8. 8.1 |
Financial implications The financial risks in delivering this service are considered high for a number of reasons as summarised below, covering uncertainty over the level of funding and the costs of the new provision, both of which are unlikely to be resolved before key decisions have to be taken: · Although a funding formula has been circulated by Government with some indication of the level of funding from 2008/09, it is clear that this is subject to change following the Comprehensive Spending Review outcomes not expected until the autumn. · From 2008/09 the funding will be provided to Hampshire's LAA and the governance arrangements underpinning the distribution of resources by the LAA have yet to be agreed. · Despite the costs of the existing provision being known, (currently £6.3m through the Youth Service, of which £0.7m is from external sources, and the Hampshire proportion of the current national grant to SCCP is about£8.7m), it is not possible to cost the new proposed internal service provision until more fully defined. · GOSE have indicated (orally) that there will be a transition fund to assist connexions services with the costs of transition available only until April 2008, making delay beyond that at the risk of loosing access to this fund. Further, GOSE have yet to define what will be eligible within this fund leaving it uncertain whether any transitional costs will have to be funded elsewhere.
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9. 9.1 |
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 will meet to ensure all staff are treated fairly and equally in accordance with the regulations. |
10. 10.1 |
Impact assessment The impact of these changes on race and equality has been considered since the initial discussions. The areas of work that are universal will be available to all young people; further, the needs of specific groups including · Black and minority ethnic young people and travellers · Lesbian and Gay young people · Young people with learning disabilities · Young parents · Young carers · Young people in care or leaving care
Will be met through targeted support. |
11. 11.1 |
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. |
12. 12.1 |
Conclusion Adoption of the proposal 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. |
The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.
1. Published works
2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.
