Connexions staff urge ministers to protect their careers expertise

Cambridgeshire County Council's lead member for children and young people, Martin Curtis, said that his council is considering scrapping Connexions in the face of significant budget reductions. He said the service could be subsumed into other areas to ensure the council still meets its statutory duties to offer careers advice.

"Connexions as a brand has to be one of the things we look at. Do we need a dedicated service or is there another way of delivering careers advice?" said Curtis. "We are considering whether it is possible for schools to absorb more of the work or whether we can deliver more of it through the voluntary sector."

CYP Now has learnt that Lancashire County Council is also considering alternatives to Connexions, which include sharing services between schools and the youth service.

Connexions became more vulnerable to cuts after the Department for Education (DfE) reduced its area-based grant to local authorities, which funds Connexions, by 24 per cent.

Paul Chubb, director of Careers England, believes that if the government is serious about improving careers advice it must protect expertise within the current profession.

More than 60 per cent of Connexions services are Careers England members, the majority of which have reported planned cuts of between 10 and 36 per cent.

Chubb said this could "decimate" some services. "I have evidence that the 24 per cent cut in the area-based grant is being passported directly to Connexions services across the country," he said. "We have asked senior officials in the DfE to draw this to the attention of ministers urgently."

Chubb warned that careers advice has only been back under local government control for two years, and there is a risk that councils lack the knowledge to protect vital services.

Steve Stewart, executive director at Connexions Coventry and Warwickshire, said significant redundancies are likely as most services spend at least 80 per cent of budgets on staff.