Archived decisions

REPORT OF THE

Cabinet / Leader

PART I

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS AND HAMPSHIRE OWN GROWN

On 23 July 2007, the Cabinet considered innovative proposals setting out how all departments within the County Council could offer employment and training opportunities for socially excluded young people, including young people who have offended and young people who are looked after by the Council via fosters carers or residential placements. The proposals have been developed jointly by the County Council, South Central Connexions and the Wessex Youth Offending Team (YOT) and builds upon previous work undertaken by the YOT in partnership with the County Council's Hampshire Own Grown project (HOG). The proposals also included new developments as a result of funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Interest in the proposals has also been shown by the National Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS). The County Council has a statutory duty to do all it reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in its area under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and has a statutory duty to provide services to children in need, therefore these proposals link strongly into these duties.

Attention has been brought recently by the Howard League to a number of Children's Services Departments concerning the issue of young people (i.e. under 18) who have complex needs at the time of being released from youth custody - many are unemployed, some have only temporary accommodation which can cause a number of problems, and some have other significant needs. The project therefore aims to help the unemployment situation with the key elements of the project being:

· to develop a range of pre-employment placements to enable young people at risk of offending and other socially excluded to prepare for employment

· to develop a range of Entry2 Employment (E2E) schemes with public bodies for the above groups funded by the Learning and Skills Council

· to develop apprenticeship schemes with public bodies where these do not exist

· to provide high levels of support for young people entering employment and who are at risk of offending

· to use the funding to support Job Development and Curriculum Development Officers to develop placements and specialist support workers

In consulting with a number of the County Council's directorates in regard to delivering the aims of the project, it became evident that the best way to deliver this would be through the Hampshire Own Grown project. Given that one of its key areas of activity on work placements linked strongly to the YOT objective of providing opportunities to a wider range of the Hampshire community and encouraging a more diverse workforce including offering placements for care leavers, adults with learning difficulties and others, there are significant benefits in merging these workstreams.

The Cabinet were strongly supportive of this initiative and approved the proposals. A Project Steering Group is already in place, to which the Cabinet recommended the addition of a representative from the Adult Services Department. Officers from the Youth Offending Team and the Hampshire Own Grown project will be working very closely to take the project forward in a timely way, and will also be working with the Learning and Skills Council and the Regional Offender Learning and Skills Service. Furthermore, the Cabinet recommended working with other agencies and the private sector to increase both their understanding of, and contribution to the project.