Agenda item

(Summary and findings of 2008 Scrutiny Review of Future Challenges of the Youth Service)

Consideration was given to a report presented by Chris Brodhurst-Brown, Youth Services Manager concerning the proposed Review of Youth Services Provision.

A previous Scrutiny Review of the Youth Services had recommended a future review of Youth Service provision, including reference to buildings used by Rotherham Youth Service, in order to deliver 21^st Century Youth Provision as envisaged by the Government agendas within Youth Matters and Aiming High: a ten year strategy for positive activities.

A considerable amount of background work had taken place with regard to this recommendation, including benchmarking against similar authorities and detailed discussions with the Transforming Rotherham Learning initiative in order to ensure congruence with Rotherham’s Building Schools for the Future Programme.

In April 2010, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People considered a report which laid out findings, which included:

·                There was inconsistency and inequity in the level of provision available to young people across the borough, although the actual level of resource allocated in financial terms to each locality was remarkably consistent.

·                Provision was not always based on need.

·                Some centres were in the wrong place.

·                Some centres were understaffed with limited sessions of opening. Additional load was also being placed upon centres as a result of the drive for Friday evening and weekend opening.

·                Whilst a good deal of progress had been made in terms of building condition under the Premises Strategy, there were some centres in need of further support. Most buildings were in reasonable condition, but there were some key buildings that needed major work.

·                Although the buildings were in generally reasonable condition there were issues with how attractive they were to young people in terms of decor and equipment.

On the basis of this report two key recommendations were agreed:

• That a strategy for the next stage of the Youth Service review be commissioned
• That a Business Case for the Outdoor Learning Service be prepared.

The Strategy would focus on:

·                Integration in the Area Planning Process in Area Assemblies

·                The development of a Youth Work ‘Quality Charter’ to benchmark provision in the voluntary and community sectors.

·                The identification of gaps in provision in the locality, including an audit at Area Assembly and Parish Council

·                The expressed wishes and needs of local young people

·                Equality of access to a consistent Youth Offer Borough wide

·                The priorities of local communities

·                Building requirements in terms of the Early Intervention and Support agenda

·                Workforce development requirements, including the creation of “Centres of Excellence”, high achieving Youth Centres where trainee youth workers are placed for the duration of their training.

The Strategy would be informed by:

·                The use of the buildings by young people; frequency and numbers

·                The number, condition, location and suitability of the buildings

·                The cost of running the buildings and levels of staffing

·                Personal knowledge and understanding of the provision and local communities.

·                Premises condition reports and the outcomes of Youth Service Systems Inspections.

·                Staffing Team Trees and financial data, married to attendance figures to arrive at an indicative Unit Cost for each centre, i.e. a cost per attendance per young person.

·                The outcomes of Voice and Influence work by local young people, these to include work in partnership with Area Assemblies and those from the recent Borough wide young people’s conferences.

·                The Govt. requirements that all local authorities in England are expected to “secure….access to sufficient educational and recreational leisure time facilities for the improvement of their well being and sufficient facilities for such activities” ( S,6: Education and Inspections Act 2006)

A specific element of Youth Service facilities are those that provide Outdoor Learning.  Rotherham is unusual in that Outdoor Learning provision has been retained whilst other local authorities have closed theirs.  This has been achieved by setting income targets that require the provision to be self sustaining, but this has become more challenging each year.  Work was now required to consider the best way to deliver this provision for our young people in the future.

A small working group of Officers under the chair of the Director of Community Services have been tasked with completing the strategy to modernise the youth facilities across the borough and report back to the Cabinet Member with a full options appraisal and clear recommendations by September 2010.

In addition, and specifically to Outdoor Education, a robust business plan for the whole of Outdoor Learning was being devised and this would include a detailed marketing plan and clear processes for review.

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and discussed:-

• A comment was made about the facilities and services provided in that they were not always suitable to the need of young people.  It was suggested that young people be consulted about the nature of the provision.  Chris confirmed that work was being undertaken to bring the universal centre based provision up to scratch.
• Reference was made to a website (The Directory) which had been set up previously to keep young people informed with up to date information about Borough wide services and it was queried as to how successful this had been.  Chris confirmed that there had been a number of problems relating to this site and it had been offline for quite a while, so she was unable to comment.  However she also confirmed that it was an early priority to get IT support to ensure that the Rotherham part of the website was up to date.  It was suggested and agreed that further information relating to this be included on the next progress report in respect of this review.
• Concerns were raised about the lack of publicity in respect of the services available to young people in Rotherham and it was suggested that work be carried out with partners to promote this more.  Chris confirmed that Youth Work Managers were working on creating Marketing Strategies to promote the services available across Rotherham.  In the planning stages of these Strategies there would be input from various youth forums, youth services etc.
• Reference was made to the number of vacancies which had not been filled in the past year and concern was expressed about how this would be addressed.  A query was raised about the use of volunteers and whether this was an option for consideration.  Chris confirmed that there had been three adverts placed for volunteers in the past 2 years which had brought in a number of part time volunteers.  She added that all volunteers were offered training which could progress through various levels of training should they so wish.  In addition a number of level 3 apprentices had been taken on around the borough to work their placements and 10 post graduates from Sheffield Hallam University were expected to start work from September.  It was also made clear that the Youth Service currently operated with a 17% vacancy factor which meant that posts had to remain unfilled for a period of time to enable a balanced budget.
• Reference was made to the number of organisations that were offering facilities.  It was suggested that maybe links could be made between youth workers and the various clubs.  It was confirmed that there were links between the area youth workers and local groups in the community which were working very well. 
• Reference was made to the funding which was available to sports clubs that wasn’t being applied for due to the lack of experience in relation to the completion of the application form.  It was confirmed that Voluntary Action Rotherham were well equipped to assist clubs in respect of this should they need it.  Members of the Panel commented that this was not an obvious place for people to go for help and it was felt that this service needed to be better promoted.

Resolved:- (1) That the content of the report be noted.

(2) That a further report be presented when the review of Youth Services, commissioned by the Cabinet Member, has reported back.  This would include the outcome of the work on Outdoor learning provision.