Capital's councils push for control

By Lauren Higgs Tuesday, 02 February 2010

London Councils has proposed scrapping the YPLA to give boroughs control of their education services.

Credit: Emilie Sandy

The Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) should be abolished in London, to give boroughs responsibility for co-ordinating youth education and training, according to a report by lobby group London Councils.

The proposal, which is part of London Councils' new Manifesto for Londoners, is one of several measures drawn up as part of plans to improve local services, speed up the economic recovery and prevent cuts to frontline provision.

Local authorities are due to take on responsibility for 16 to 19 education and training when the Learning and Skills Council is dissolved in April. The YPLA is set to co-ordinate funding to councils after this date. It will also fund academies.

But London Councils claims that the YPLA is unnecessary, since boroughs are working together in a regional planning group.

It argues the group could handle the transfer and academies' duties alone.

The manifesto also suggests that all safeguarding work, currently undertaken by the Government Office for London, should be devolved to the London Safeguarding Children Board, and any savings redirected to the frontline.

Jasmine Ali, head of the Children's Services Network at the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), called for London Councils' plans to be replicated nationwide.

"The LGIU has consistently campaigned for strong devolved local powers," she explained. "Our current work on improving education for children in care leads us to the same conclusions as London Councils. Targeting resources locally is important for early intervention and prevention so that we help families in trouble before they break down."

Andrew Cozens, strategic adviser for children, adults and health services at the Improvement and Development Agency, said the government should trust councils to deliver more services direct.

Les Lawrence, lead member for children's services in Birmingham, said a move toward joint commissioning across local government fits with what children's trusts are trying to achieve.

But he stopped short of saying that London Councils' devolution plans should be replicated in other areas.

"It is worth exploring," he said. "But there would be practicalities to consider around implementation, for example the West Midlands is a huge area."